


With Nothing (We Started There)

by jks_microwave



Series: Black Cat Magic [4]
Category: ATEEZ (Band), Stray Kids (Band), 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Werecreatures, Angst, Black Cat Bang Chan, Black Cat Choi San, Bottom Jung Wooyoung, Bottom Kim Hongjoong, Bottom Park Seonghwa, Chan is very soft for his stray kids, Eventual Smut, Friends to Lovers, Human Kim Hongjoong, Human Min Yoongi | Suga, Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapping, M/M, San has a Christmas Crisis named Jung Wooyoung, Slow Burn, Suit Kink, Switching, THERE WAS ONLY ONE BED, Top Choi San, Top Kim Hongjoong, Top Park Seonghwa, Were-Cat Jung Wooyung, Were-Cat Kim Namjoon, Were-Cat Park Seonghwa, Were-Cat Stray Kids, mentions of being drugged, mild PTSD, oh my god they're roommates, this is just me furthering my tattooed kpop idol agenda
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-01
Updated: 2020-12-11
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:01:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 41,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27784147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jks_microwave/pseuds/jks_microwave
Summary: Seonghwa is a Snow Leopard variant were-cat, prized for his rarity and his beauty. After being betrayed by his parents and nearly sold in an illegal auction to cover their debt, Seonghwa has no place to go until Hongjoong offers him a place to stay.... Which would be fine if Seonghwa and Hongjoong hadn't been dancing around their feelings for each other for the last three years.
Relationships: Bang Chan/Lee Felix, Choi San/Jung Wooyoung, Kim Hongjoong/Park Seonghwa
Series: Black Cat Magic [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1961227
Comments: 27
Kudos: 217





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> If you haven't read the WooSan part of this (Part 3 of Black Cat Magic), no worries! Here are some things you'll need to know: 
> 
> Were-Cats are essentially shape-shifters, they can turn into their feline form at will (they only have one). Most of the visible minority turn into a breed of housecat, though there are rare were-cats that shift into Big Cats (Tiger, Leopard, Lion) etc. Other than being able to shift and their naturally superior agility and strength (for the Big Cats) there’s not much else that's different between were-cats and people. 
> 
> In the OT8, Seonghwa (Snow Leopard), Wooyoung (Bengal house cat), Mingi (Lion) and San (Black Cat) are were-cats. Hongjoong, Yeosang, Yunho and Jongho are human. 
> 
> Black Cats are an extremely rare variant, and can use black magic with each one having a specialty. San’s specialty is casting hexes (short-term spells). Hoseok (BTS) filters the requests and San and Jungkook (BTS) are hex-casters. Hoseok’s specialty is applying the magical glyphs that help Black Cats control their magic and emotional-influencing magic; he and Chan (SKZ) have similar types of magic and are amazing at reading people. Chan's far more accurate at it than Hoseok, though. 
> 
> Black Cats, due to being ostracized, tend to wander and don’t settle down. Because of this, fate gives them a soulmate, indicated by both parties having one-half of a pair of earrings. Wooyoung is San’s soulmate and their story begins in Part 3 of Black Cat Magic and continues here as a side-ship. 
> 
> Were-Cats in general don’t have this same ‘wrinkle’. 
> 
> Kim Seokjin (BTS) is a supermodel, fashion designer and owns a one Michelin Star restaurant named Moon. San picks up shifts there from time to time as a waiter, he knows Seokjin through Jungkook and Hoseok. 
> 
> Any questions? Feel free to ask!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hongjoong was expecting a quiet night in Itaewon: go see a band perform his song, go home and watch some of his K-Dramas. What he wasn't expecting was to see San lugging a half-conscious Seonghwa against the flow of the crowd.

There was only one thing better than seeing something he created be performed on stage and that was being the one to perform it himself. But, Hongjoong had created this song for this band and they were knocking it out of the park. He sat on a swivel stool at the bar, turned around with his back against the bar to watch the band tear it up and pull the previously apathetic crowd into the palm of their hands. There was the usual twang of FOMO, as he desperately wanted to be the one performing his lyrics and his melodies up on the stage, but this was the next best thing. Seeing something he crafted from nothing be performed live by talented people was a rush.

“Hyung, you fucking nailed it!” Mingi said from beside him, nursing a whiskey sour. “I don’t know why you said you needed my help on that track; it sounds bomb.”

Hongjoong laughed and shook his head. “I was stuck until you came along and said ‘oh, just pitch up the snares at 1:45 for 30 seconds and you’re golden, bro’. You deserve as much credit as I do for that.” He paused. “The e-transfer went through, right?” When Mingi didn’t answer, Hongjoong slammed his drink down on the table and grabbed his junior’s shoulders. “Mingi! The transfer went through, right?”

Mingi gave him a fond smile. “Yeah of course it did. You gotta relax, hyung. You’re burning the candle at both ends.”

“It’s a rite of passage for University students,” Hongjoong protested. “Besides, it’s like a couple of weeks and then it’s BAM, finals. Then BAM, Christmas. I’m just getting my stress reps in so I handle it better this year.”

“True, we don’t need you stress baking,” Mingi said, taking another long sip of his drink. “I think I almost got Type II diabetes last year.”

“You weren’t bitching when you were eating my peppermint schnapps cookies like your life depended on it,” Hongjoong muttered, picking his drink back up. He liked the ‘girly’ drinks, preferring the complexities with higher end liquors than settling for a beer or whiskey that all tasted like a burnt wheat campfire (to him, he’d never say that to Mingi). “All right, I was just here to see them perform. I’m out.”

Mingi raised an eyebrow. “You usually stay till the end. What’s up?” His eyes narrowed slightly before a grin creased his lips. “Gonna watch your dramas?”

“Shut your whole face.”

“Tell me if the girl and the boy get together before we reach episode 13 or if something avoidable comes between them right when they confess.”

“I’m your hyung, how dare you treat me with such disrespect.” Hongjoong paused as he downed the rest of his sugary drink, and glanced away. “And he’s a mafia boss and she was sold to him by her parents. It’s totally different.”

Mingi let out a howl of laughter, slapping his hand against the bar counter. “I’m just fucking with you, Joong-hyung. Watch whatever you want.”

Pretending to huff, Hongjoong waited until the last minute before pulling Mingi into a hug. “Get home safe, okay? Text me when you get back,” he said, smiling fondly as he ruffled Mingi’s wild blond hair that was spiked with black.

“I will, I will.”

“Good.” Hongjoong shucked on his black denim jacket, littered with fabric paint and various pins and charms. He jingled softly as he got himself sorted out, and after plopping his toque on his head, waved to Mingi and headed out into the cool November air. He shivered slightly and hunched his shoulders up; he really had to learn how to layer his clothing better. Ripped jeans were definitely not the way to go tonight but he looked so good; who was he to deny everyone this?

Itaewon was just getting into its late night swing, and Hongjoong loved to just walk the streets at this hour, listening to the haphazard mix of music coming from the bars and clubs; it ended up being his main source of inspiration for his melodies. As he was walking down a narrow street, absently humming a tune, he noticed an anomaly in the movement of the crowd. Moving against the flow was San, holding a barely conscious Seonghwa.

San was dressed head to toe in black and silver, as was his custom, but the jewellery and clothing were definitely higher end than he could afford; Wooyoung must have dressed him. The more concerning figure was Seonghwa, the taller man slumped almost like a rag doll against San, dressed in sparkling clothes that accented his tan skin and pale blond hair. San was looking back and forth, trying to figure out a way through the crowd that would cause the least amount of jostling to Seonghwa.

Despite his brain still reeling from the sight, Hongjoong’s feet moved for him, and he found himself running towards San through the packed side street. “Over here!” He said as he grabbed Seonghwa’s other arm, leading them to a deserted ‘public park’ that was really just a concrete square with a sad looking swing, two benches and a barrel fire that was being crowded around by a couple of homeless men. Carefully, San and Hongjoong sat Seonghwa down on the bench making sure not to jostle him more than he already had been.

Crouching down in front of Seonghwa as San sat down beside him, Hongjoong didn’t do anything except place his hands gently on the elder’s clothed kneecaps. Now that he got a better look at him, Hongjoong could see that Seonghwa was wearing a lot more makeup than he usually did for a night on the town, dressed in fancy, sparkly, almost costume-y clothing that hugged his slender frame a bit too tight. Around his neck was a glittering diamond choker on black satin, with a long tail.

“Joong…?”

The crack from his raw throat was evident, and Hongjoong tightened his grip on Seonghwa’s knees. “Yeah, I’m here, Hwa. San’s here too. You okay?”

“…No.” Seonghwa looked over at San, who offered him a comforting smile. “Thank you. I … I don’t know what…”

San shook his head. “Don’t force yourself right now. We need to get you out of Itaewon as soon as possible in case we’re being followed. Woo’s going to catch up with us later. He’s gotta do damage control.”

Hongjoong’s brows furrowed. “What do you mean — never mind. My place is closest … Hwa’s not in any shape to be walking so subway’s out … let’s hail a taxi. It won’t be that expensive with how far we have to go.” He smiled at Seonghwa. “Think you can make it?”

“…Yeah.” Slowly, Seonghwa pushed himself to his feet, a bit shaky but stable. San was on his feet in an instant, standing behind him in case his balance failed him. “I think they drugged me.”

San frowned. “No, they _definitely_ drugged you.” He turned to Hongjoong. “Can you hail the cab? I’ll stay here with Seonghwa-hyung.”

“Good idea,” Hongjoong agreed, giving Seonghwa one last look before lightly jogging towards the curb and flagging down a cab. Once one stopped, he and San carefully shepherded Seonghwa into the vehicle, with Hongjoong giving directions to his apartment building.

While his apartment was small and not prepared for company, this was an emergency so he was prepared to get roasted later for the state of filth that was his living situation. San carefully brought Seonghwa over to what could generously be called a couch and sat him down. “Mind if I raid your kitchen for tea for hyung?” San asked as Hongjoong closed and locked the door behind them.

“No, go for it. They’re in the one closest to the stove,” Hongjoong replied as he fought with the last of his three locks, the one that was always the bitch of the group. “Kettle’s kind of small so you’re gonna have to make like another go for all three of us. — did you tell Woo where we were?”

“Yeah,” San confirmed from the kitchen, the sounds of him rummaging around filling the awkward silence. “He’ll be here soon.”

Hongjoong sat down beside Seonghwa, not wanting to encroach on his space but wanting to be a comforting presence somehow. He bit his lip, wondering if he should say something more than he already had, or if he should pull the taller man into a hug. He stayed still, hands laying uselessly at his side, stealing glances to Seonghwa who seemed to be swaying slightly. “…Hwa?”

“Mm…”

“What happened?”

San came back from the kitchen and set three wildly different mugs down on Hongjoong’s coffee table. “Wooyoung and I were at this party his parents’ friends were throwing, and it was just normal rich people nonsense until …” He frowned and placed a hand on Seonghwa’s thigh, gauging his reaction. When he didn’t receive a response, San continued but didn’t move his hand. “They started handing out these non-disclosure agreements and brought everybody down to this lower level of the banquet hall where… they were auctioning off rare breeds of were-cat.”

“They _what?_ ” Hongjoong hissed out his exclamation, knowing he couldn’t yell like he wanted to. “What the _fuck_.”

“It’s… not uncommon,” San explained, frowning. “Society’s gotten better with were-cats, and they’ve gotten worse. There are a lot of people that want us for kinks, or as pets, or god knows what else. Seonghwa-hyung’s a snow leopard, right? The bidding for him was going up pretty high before Woo and I decided to do something about it.He caused a distraction and I got Seonghwa-hyung out of there.”

Hongjoong’s brows furrowed. “What did they do to him?” Seonghwa was quiet for the most part, except for when he was left alone with Mingi or they were particularly batty after an all-nighter, but this… this was not Seonghwa.

San’s lips pursed and he absently ran his tongue along his silver lip ring that hung over his bottom lip on the left side. “I don’t know how he got there, but he was definitely drugged with some kind of muscle relaxer or _something_. It should wear off in a couple hours.” His head snapped up when he heard a buzz from Hongjoong’s intercom. Pushing himself up and walking over, he pressed the button. “Woo?”

“Oh thank God,” came Wooyoung’s voice through the scratchy speaker. “No offence to Hongjoong-hyung, but his apartment is in the sketchiest part of this neighbourhood.”

“Tell Wooyoung to get fucked,” Hongjoong muttered from where he was helping Seonghwa take a sip of tea.

San snorted into the intercom’s speaker. “Don’t insult your host’s dwelling. I’m buzzing you up and I’m not saving you from Joong-hyung.”

“But we’re _soulmates_.”

“The soulmate pact doesn’t include being collateral damage. Get up here already.” San removed his finger from the button and buzzed Wooyoung in, leaning by the door until the youngest of the four of them finally arrived. “Hey,” he greeted, unable to help the smile that came to his lips. “How did it go?”

Wooyoung grinned as he closed the door behind him, easily doing up the locks that Hongjoong would fight with daily. “Easy-peasy. I should go into acting instead of the family business. A few well-placed tears, grazing myself with a knife to pretend I got attacked by another were-cat, and I was out in the clear.”

San’s eyes narrowed slightly as if trying to discern what part of the tale was true alongside the added difficulty that with Wooyoung, it was entirely possible that everything was accurate. Eventually he gave up trying and placed a kiss to Wooyoung’s forehead, pulling him along towards the ‘living room’ area of Hongjoong’s small apartment, depositing him in the beanbag chair. “Sit. Do you want some tea?”

“He insulted my home, he can die of thirst,” Hongjoong declared from his seat beside Seonghwa, folding his arms.

He was surprised to feel Seonghwa’s hand on his leg, a little loose from whatever was working itself through his system. “No… W’young helped a lot… if it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t have gotten out of there.”

(He must really be out of it if he didn’t sense the joke… Hwa…) Hongjoong smiled a little and put his hand over Seonghwa’s. “Fine, he can have some tea. But in a minute; you’re the priority here.”

“Hyung, what happened?” Wooyoung asked, frowning from his sinking position in the beanbag chair. He was struggling to sit up and it would’ve been hilarious if it weren’t for the severity of the situation.

Seonghwa’s lips opened as if to say something but soon closed and he blinked slowly as if trying to test if he knew how his eyes worked. Slowly, his free hand raised up and touched his face, his icy blue eyes crinkling in confusion. “My parents said… we were going out for dinner,” he started, his words still a little slurred. He seemed to realize this, and paused before continuing. “We don’t… usually come to Itaewon so I was confused … then I don’t … I couldn’t… they just … there was this man. He asked ‘is this your payment?’ and my parents said yes. I don’t … remember anything after that. Just … Wooyoung yelling and San pulling me around…”

“W-What? Why would they… what the hell does _that_ mean?” Wooyoung asked, brows furrowing in concern.

“It means they sold him to cover a debt,” San replied darkly, tattooed fingers gripping his mug of tea so tightly that Hongjoong was hoping it wouldn’t shatter. “Whatever Seonghwa-hyung got at auction was going to count towards what his parents owed. I’ve seen it happen before.”

Seonghwa frowned, San’s words seemingly piercing through the fog he found himself in. “They really tried to sell me,” he whispered in disbelief. “What the fuck… I can’t go back. _I can’t go back!_ ”

He seemed to curl in himself at the realization, and quickly Hongjoong found himself with an armful of Seonghwa, trembling and gripping at him, desperate for purchase. _This_ was definitely new territory as they were never that touchy-feely with each other, and for a moment, Hongjoong wasn’t sure what to do with his hands. Eventually his brain caught up with the situation and he brought his arms around Seonghwa, hoping that his hug was tight and warm enough without causing the were-cat any further discomfort. “You’re not going back,” he confirmed.

“I can’t,” Seonghwa whispered brokenly, his blunt nails digging into the fabric of Hongjoong’s thin clubbing shirt. “They … they really just tried to sell me!” the disbelief and betrayal was clear in his voice, the crack and shake that coloured its usual soft timbre being something none of them ever wanted to hear again. “I can’t believe them…!”

While a small part of him could understand being so desperate to alleviate that kind of financial pressure, there was nothing in Hongjoong that could believe that someone could _sell_ their _child_. “It’s going to be okay, Hwa,” he promised. “You got out of there. You won’t go back. I promise.”

Seonghwa shook his head, his lips red with his constant biting of it, eyes red and puffy from the frustrated tears and his sluggish response. “What … where … I can’t … where am I gonna go?” he muttered, sloped shoulders hunched up as a deep frown marred his beautiful features. “My family; I can’t … I can’t trust any of them! What if they all knew? What if they’d … what if they’d send me back?”

“They won’t get to you,” San promised. “We’ll make sure of it. But … that’s a good point. Where can Seonghwa-hyung stay? My place isn’t big enough and Wooyoung … your parents might…”

Wooyoung sighed and rubbed his forehead. “I don’t know if they know anything about the auction but they’d definitely recognize Seonghwa-hyung. Plus I’m in the dorms.”

“He can stay here,” Hongjoong interjected suddenly, the words leaving his mouth before he could stop himself from saying them. Both San and Wooyoung stopped, staring at him with twin pairs of wide eyes. He didn’t blame them for the reaction - he was notorious throughout their friend group for being wildly protective of his personal space, not allowing anyone to come by - even Mingi, with whom Hongjoong wrote a lot of his music.

Wooyoung and San shared a long look with each other before they turned their attention back to Hongjoong. “Are you… sure, hyung?” Wooyoung asked carefully. “I know how you are with your personal space. If you’re not comfortable, we can figure something out…”

“I can definitely ask JK-hyung and Hobi-hyung if they have any ideas too,” San said, scratching the back of his neck.

“I’m the only one who has their own place outside of San and that doesn’t live in the dorms,” Hongjoong pointed out. Holding onto Seonghwa’s trembling form helped hide his own shaking from the impulsiveness of his decision. “And there’s no need to get anybody else involved in this; the fewer people who know the better.”

Wooyoung chewed his bottom lip. “What about the others?”

“…We’ll tell them later when Seonghwa says we can,” Hongjoong said without hesitation. “For now, if they ask, just say he got food poisoning from some restaurant in Itaewon and is staying with me for a while or something.” His brows furrowed. “Is anybody in his classes?”

“I’m not in any of his classes, but we have a lot of the same professors,” Wooyoung said, giving up on getting up in the beanbag and flopping back. “I can talk to them about emailing any assignments to his personal email or something.”

Hongjoong nodded. “Thanks, Woo.”

The Bengal were-cat nodded eagerly. “Anything to help Seonghwa-hyung.” He looked over at San. “I should be getting back, though. I don’t think I can defend being out _this_ late after the insanity of what went down. I said I would be seeing you back home then staying at my parents place tonight.”

“Well, there’s something you could tell them as to why you took so long,” San said with a teasing smirk. It vanished as Wooyoung hollered incoherently, flinging the nearest object, a plush snow leopard that Hongjoong won at a fair a couple of summers ago. San caught it with his fast reflexes, grinning as he set it down beside Seonghwa. “Come on, let’s go. Seonghwa-hyung’s overwhelmed and I think Joong-hyung’s ten seconds from killing us.”

Hongjoong snorted. “It’s five, but I’ll overlook it this once. — thanks for getting him out of there, you two.”

San smiled. “Anything for Seonghwa-hyung.” He gathered up the half-drunk cups of tea, pouring out the contents and cleaning up the mugs before setting them on Hongjoong’s pathetic drying rack. Once it was finished, he nodded to Wooyoung and the pair left surprisingly quietly.

The silence was thick as the door shut behind them, and Hongjoong almost opened his mouth to call them back just so he wouldn’t have to deal with the awkwardness alone. He looked down at Seonghwa, and bit his lip; he’d thought about this a lot, what would it feel like to have the older man in his arms, leaning on him like this, clutching to him like this … but this wasn’t the way he wanted it to happen. Quickly, Hongjoong shook his head; this wasn’t about him.

Carefully, Hongjoong peeled Seonghwa off the couch and helped bring him to the one bedroom in his apartment, lying him down on the bed. The thought occurred to him that maybe Seonghwa should be in more comfortable clothes to sleep, but there was no way he was going to encroach on the other’s personal space after what his brain went through, so this would have to do. He did remove what he could of Seonghwa’s jewellery and the collar around his neck, placing them in a little trinket tray on his small dresser. It was a bit of work to move Seonghwa’s taller frame when he was practically dead weight, but Hongjoong had been to the gym a couple times that year, so he should be able to do this, no problem, right?

With a heavy exhale of relief, Hongjoong stepped back once Seonghwa was comfortably tucked into his bed. He’d cleaned the make-up off the older man’s face, and when Seonghwa began to whimper in his fitful sleep, Hongjoong bit his lip and brought over the leopard plush that Wooyoung flung at San’s head. That seemed to help, and Hongjoong wrote a quick note on the bedside notepad to explain to Seonghwa why he was in Hongjoong’s apartment to begin with and trucked off to the living room. He flopped onto the couch, running a hand through his shaggy hair as he stared at the ceiling.

The next morning was going to be awkward as hell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're starting off with a bang, kids!


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hongjoong and Seonghwa adjust to being in the same space together. 
> 
> When Seonghwa goes on a cleaning bender, Hongjoong escapes with his life and meets up with two of his favourite rapper hyungs.

**To: San 🐈‍⬛[12:38 a.m.]**   
San, how long do you think Seonghwa’s going to be out for?  
like obviously you won’t know exactly but  
like an estimate

 **From: San🐈‍⬛ [12:40 a.m.]  
** He’ll probably be out until late afternoon if I had to guess.  
Whatever they injected him with, it was too much.  
Why? 

**To: San🐈‍⬛ [12:45 a.m.]  
** He doesn’t have any clothes here  
so I was going to pick up some stuff for him while he was out cold  
None of my stuff will fit him  
say something about my height and I’ll fight you  
(ง'̀-'́)ง

 **From: San🐈‍⬛ [12:45 a.m.]  
** …

 **To: San🐈‍⬛ [12:46 a.m.]  
** WHAT

 **From: San🐈‍⬛ [12:47 a.m.]  
** Nothing.  
I suddenly see Yeosang’s entire point  
He was right about you two

 **To: San 🐈‍⬛[12:48 a.m.]  
** Yeosang’s a dirty fucking liar  
he burned my crops and attacked my village  
he’ll be forgotten by history for his transgressions 

**From: San 🐈‍⬛[12:50 a.m.]  
** methinks she doth protest too much 

**To: San🐈‍⬛ [12:51 a.m.]  
** hey queen gertrude shut your face  
no one asked

 **From: San 🐈‍⬛[12:52 a.m.]  
** I’m just a casual observer in the greatest slow burn of our generation  
as for clothes for hyung, give me a couple hours

 **To: San🐈‍⬛ [12:53 a.m.]  
** What, why  
what are you going to do  
make them?

 **From: San 🐈‍⬛[12:54 a.m.]  
** I’m Jin-hyung’s favourite and I’m sure I can get something Seonghwa-hyung would actually _wear  
_ I don’t trust your fashion sense as far as I could throw it

 **To: San🐈‍⬛ [12:55 a.m.]  
** how dare you  
respect your hyung  
but also  
thank you  
…  
see if you can get anything for me  
his shit rules  
thnx

 **From: San🐈‍⬛ [1:00 a.m.]  
** ㅋㅋㅋㅋ  
I’ll see what I can do

 **To: San🐈‍⬛ [1:01 a.m.]  
** thanks, San  
I’ll be home so just come over whenever

 **From: San🐈‍⬛ [1:02 a.m.]  
** You’re welcome, hyung  
go to sleep

 **To: San🐈‍⬛ [1:02 a.m.]  
** sleep is for the weak  
you too

 **From: San🐈‍⬛ [1:04 a.m.]  
** Are you kidding?  
I’m a black cat  
this is my _time  
_ it’s like a crime if I don’t stay up through the night  
and bathe my beauty in the moonlight  
there’s a cabal and everything that’ll punish me if i don’t  
do you want that

 **To: San🐈‍⬛ [1:05 a.m.]  
** methinks she doth protest too much  
lol  
got u  
  


Hongjoong had fallen asleep on the couch, phone on his chest and drool sliding down the corner of his mouth, waking up and feeling honestly offended that he’d let himself fall asleep like that. No wonder the others bullied him so much. With a pained groan, his muscles and joints screaming in protest that moving was a terrible idea why was he even doing it, Hongjoong pushed himself off the couch and up to an upright position.

A quick glance at his phone told him it was 9:14 a.m., and with a groan, he realized he already missed his morning class. Oh well; today was extenuating circumstances day. Days. He didn’t know how long this thing with Seonghwa was going to go.

Seonghwa.

Fuck.

Memories of 8 hours ago flooded to the forefront of his mind, and Hongjoong slapped a hand over his face. Not six feet away was his bedroom, where Seonghwa was slumbering, sleeping off whatever the fuck those assholes at the auction injected him with. He unlocked his phone and saw the messages he’d traded with San at one in the morning. Right. San was going to look into getting clothes for Seonghwa and Hongjoong had shamelessly asked for a piece of scrap fabric from _the_ Kim Seokjin.

Look. If he didn’t ask, how would he know that the answer was a solid ‘maybe’?

Hongjoong flexed his shoulders back and rubbed his neck, groaning at the satisfying crack as he shuffled towards the bathroom. After freshening his gremlin self up enough to look presentable and eliminate his horrid morning breath, Hongjoong made his way to his tiny kitchen. A quick check to his fridge showed he had enough for a decent breakfast for himself, though he scaled it back a bit just so he had enough for when Seonghwa woke up.

Halfway through munching on his cereal - cereal was added first, he’s not uncultured - Hongjoong’s attention was pulled away from the ear worm that’d been plaguing him for the past couple of days by his apartment’s buzzer. Figuring it was San, Hongjoong used his forehead to press the buzzer button instead of letting go of his bowl and spoon, though he had to sacrifice the spoon and hold it in his mouth when he went to undo all the locks. “Morning,” he greeted affably. He put his cereal bowl and the spoon down on the coffee table, now just a bowl full of cereal-flavoured milk.

“Morning,” San returned the greeting in kind, bowing slightly when let into the apartment. “Sorry it took me so long; Jin-hyung goes on these tangents and they’re equal parts hilarious and long-winded. — anyway, you owe me for this; I’ve had to agree to more shifts at _Moon_ to make up for this favour.”

Hongjoong raised an eyebrow. “Don’t you already work there?” He definitely remembered Wooyoung explaining how he found a guy named Jungkook and mistook him for San when he went to _Moon_ to try and find him back before summer started.

“Yes and no,” San half-answered, rolling in a large designer suitcase, emblazoned with Seokjin’s WWH label all over its face. “And this is probably more than he needs, but when I told Jin-hyung - in vague terms, before you lose your shit - what happened to Seonghwa-hyung, he went overboard. He apologizes for these being from a couple of seasons ago, but… I don’t think anybody’s going to care.”

“Holy crap,” Hongjoong muttered under his breath as he helped San move the large suitcase into his apartment and into a cleared corner. “Did he give you the entirety of the Fall/Winter collections from the past three years or something?”

San shrugged. “I think so? Anyway, there’s a few pieces in here for you, they’re in a white garment bag whereas all the stuff for Seonghwa-hyung are in black ones. There’s a couple of pairs of shoes - I guessed on the size but I’m pretty sure I’m right.”

“This is way more than I expected; thank you! I guess, I should be thanking Kim Seokjin,” Hongjoong said, rubbing his neck. “What do I owe you?”

San snorted. “I didn’t do this for _you_ , I did it for Seonghwa-hyung.” He smiled and nodded. “But you’re welcome. — is he awake yet?”

Hongjoong shook his head. “No, probably won’t be until the afternoon like you said. — hear anything from anyone about the auction last night?”

“No, so I think we’re in the clear. I even asked Hoseok-hyung if he heard anything - he’s got a pretty good information network in the city - and he hadn’t heard a thing. Wooyoung’s told the others that Seonghwa-hyung drank a little too much to celebrate getting 100% on an assignment of his. I don’t know what he’s talking about or if that’s even true, but the others believe it. They think you’re a bad influence on Seonghwa-hyung.”

Indignant, Hongjoong let out a sound that could best be described as a squawk as he looked up from his phone, in the midst of emailing his professors to tell them that he’s taking care of a sick friend and won’t be able to attend lectures for the next bit. “I don’t know whether I should be offended or relieved that worked.”

San smirked. “I’ve gotta get going. I have a couple of jobs from Hoseok-hyung to do, and thankfully they’re easy ones.”

“Do you ever… have to do anything crazy for those? For your … hexes?” Hongjoong had heard San talk here and there about his main hustle, casting hexes for money, but the whole idea was so interesting that although he wanted to know more, he didn’t want to bother the Black Cat by bugging him with questions.

“Crazy how?” San quirked up an eyebrow.

“Like…” Hongjoong sucked on his teeth, trying to find the words. “I don’t know, severe? I don’t know what the scale is.”

Realization dawned on San’s features as he figured out the question. “Oh, like the craziest thing I’ve had to cast a hex for?” He tilted his head as he thought about it. “All the ones that deal with a betrayal of trust are always intense from a circumstance standpoint. Like I cast a compulsive truth hex on a lawyer who broke his oath and destroyed the lives of a lot of people who relied on him in good faith. Nuttiest one was one that affected verbal abilities. Like, I had to hex a retired gangster with a filthy mouth so he suddenly couldn’t swear and could only use VERY G-rated language. His daughter paid me to cast the hex because she didn’t want her kids’ grandpa to use such language around her kids and thought that’d kick him in the ass to change his ways.”

Hongjoong stared. “That’s insane.”

“The hardest thing I’ve ever had to do was to keep my mouth shut so he didn’t see me,” San said solemnly. “But I’ve gotta get going now, hyung. Text me if you need anything else.”

“Hopefully not. Thanks again, San.” Hongjoong gave the Black Cat a wave before seeing him out of the apartment. Once San was gone, Hongjoong turned back around to the large suitcase. “Better get this unpacked… at least Seonghwa’s stuff.”

As he began to dig into the suitcase, there was an impressive amount of clothing that was packed in there and Hongjoong was convicted that Seokjin dumped his entire wardrobe on them. He was grateful, but holy shit. By the time that Hongjoong sorted out the shirts, pants, undergarments, shoes, and accessories - what the fuck - Seonghwa was beginning to stir. He had been absently rapping one of his favourite tracks that he’d never let anybody hear when he heard Seonghwa’s soft groan.

The older man’s eyes slowly blinked open, long fingers splaying out over his face as he tried to stave off a headache. Hongjoong’s hands stopped in midair as he held up a beautifully tailored black button-down shirt that had tasteful beading in the shape of a bird going down the right shoulder, the tail feathers trailing to the cuff. “Where…?” Seonghwa rasped, coughing at the dry air.

“You’re at my place, Hwa,” Hongjoong answered carefully, making sure to keep his voice soft but also loud enough to be heard clearly.

Suddenly, Seonghwa shot up straight as an ironing board, prompting Hongjoong to abandon the designer shirt and shoot to his side, hands carefully hovering in case the older man toppled from the exertion. “Your…?” the question seemed to die on Seonghwa’s lips as he looked around, realization setting in. “…Oh.” He frowned deeply, staring down at his hands and rumpled dress shirt. “Right. — wait, _your_ place? Hongjoong, you hate having people over—”

“Shut up! — sorry,” Hongjoong somehow managed to snap and appear apologetic within milliseconds of both happening. “I meant what I said yesterday, Hwa. You can stay here as long as you need to. I spend most of my time at the studio on campus anyway.”

Seonghwa frowned. “I’m not staying here for _free_. I have to earn my keep somehow.”

“Earn your — after what you just went through I’m _not_ charging you _rent_ ,” Hongjoong said incredulously.

“I’m not a charity case!” Seonghwa snapped before catching himself. He groaned, and put his face in his hands. “I’m sorry, I just… this headache is splitting my head open, and I just… everything is just…”

Frowning, Hongjoong shook his head. “It’s okay,” he said gently. “And I didn’t mean it like that. I just meant… for the first bit, just focus on yourself. It’s not like you being here is going to suddenly send my financial situation into a tailspin. It’s gonna be fine. Just… use the time to process everything, yeah? No judgment here. RJ here is a good listener.” He held up a white alpaca with a red neckerchief, and placed him in Seonghwa’s lap.

“…Okay,” Seonghwa relented. He looked down at RJ, who looked back at him with stitched eyes and a little :3 mouth. “But I’m going to clean up this apartment. It looks like a bomb went off.”

If it weren’t for the small quirk of Seonghwa’s lips, Hongjoong would have been more offended. No, even with the smirk on the older man’s lips, Hongjoong was pretty fucking offended at the call-out that his apartment was a mess. “How dare you, Park Seonghwa,” he managed, huffing. “I don’t even know if I want to give you all these clothes San got for you at my request. You can just stay in those wrinkly clothes if you’re going to be rude.” He was teasing, of course, and hoped it came through in his tone.

Seonghwa’s widened in surprise before he ducked his head and Hongjoong was sure he was hallucinating the blush that coloured the were-cat’s cheeks. “You … asked Sannie to get clothes for me?” he asked quietly.

“I figured since you wouldn’t be able to get anything from your place, that you’d need stuff to wear,” Hongjoong explained, embarrassed. “My stuff wasn’t going to fit so I was going to go and grab some stuff but San said he could get some from Kim Seokjin, like it was always a fucking option going to a _supermodel_ and _fashion designer_ to be like: yo, _Jin-hyung_ , got any _designer_ threads I can bum off you? Like he’s asking for a cup of _sugar_. I think he knows everybody in the City and it’s freaking me out.”

A soft giggle escaped Seonghwa, and he raised a hand to cover his mouth. “San is not shy about using his connections,” he said, the smile widening a bit more. “And… thank you, for asking him.” The blush on his cheeks deepened briefly. “And… for letting me stay here. I know you value your privacy.”

“Hwa, anything for you.”

“Anything?” Seonghwa’s icy blue eyes were sharp and intense as he raised his head to catch Hongjoong’s gaze. The younger’s mouth hung open slightly, feeling as if he were prey stalked by a gorgeous predator. Seeing as how Seonghwa could change forms into a snow leopard, maybe Hongjoong wasn’t too far off on his assessment. Seonghwa’s gaze was so powerful, so strong and so beautiful that Hongjoong almost zoned right out as he focused on the striking blue, not even wanting to blink.

Fuck. He was screwed.

“Y-Yeah, anything,” Hongjoong confirmed, forcing himself to nod. Even wrung out from recovering from being drugged, Seonghwa was beautiful. Hongjoong really needed to get his shit together; he had to _focus_.

It would be so easy just to reach out and brush that stubborn forelock of hair away, tuck it behind Seonghwa’s right ear, keep it out of his eyes, maybe ask if he wanted a late lunch. His hand hung in the air as he followed his train of thought, and it inched closer to Seonghwa as if pulled by an invisible force. He could feel the snow leopard’s sharp eyes following the movement, but he made no movement to stop him, and to Hongjoong, that was almost worse. He almost wanted Seonghwa to stop him, so he wouldn’t do something to break the delicate balance that hung between them. The chasm stretched too far and too close at the same time.

The feel of Seonghwa’s pale blond hair against his painted fingernails almost seemed like a fever dream. Seonghwa’s eyelashes brushed against Hongjoong’s fingers as the older man closed his eyes, as if waiting for more. Biting his lower lip, Hongjoong leaned forward, his fingers just barely grazing along Seonghwa’s skin, his pinky brushing the were-cat’s lower lip. Oh god, he was really doing this, really touching Park Seonghwa. Three years of inelegantly avoiding the shifting energy between them was finally starting to crumble.

Suddenly, he felt a heavy weight fall against him and the reality suddenly hit him as if he’d been socked in the face by a flying brick; Seonghwa wasn’t waiting for him, he’d _fainted_. Hongjoong blinked and barely caught Seonghwa before the older man face-planted into the mattress. “Hwa!” he exclaimed weakly, heat colouring his tanned cheeks all the way up to his ears and down his neck. “Hwa?? Oh fuck. Uh, okay! What do I…? Right!” he muttered to himself, quickly and smoothly guiding Seonghwa down to his back, checking to make sure that the were-cat was breathing. “Okay, thank God…”

Without thinking, Hongjoong loosened the belt around Seonghwa’s waist and carefully slid it out, bunching it up and tossing it to the side onto a pile of clothing. He unbuttoned the older man’s shirt enough to make sure it wasn’t restrictive, and hurried to the bathroom to dampen a clean cloth with lukewarm water, folding it neatly and placing it on Seonghwa’s forehead. Hongjoong’s fingers brushed the pale blond strands out of Seonghwa’s face, trying to flatten it down so it would behave and stay off his forehead as well as the cloth.

The seconds seemed to tick by exceptionally slow as he waited for Seonghwa to regain consciousness and nearly a full minute later, Seonghwa’s eyes fluttered open and struggled to stabilize. Hongjoong knew what he must have been feeling like: regaining consciousness after fainting always felt as if he was tumbling around in a dryer, the room tumbling round and round until it finally stopped.

Gently, Hongjoong gave the were-cat’s hand a gentle but firm squeeze to help ground him. “Hey,” he said with a small smile. “You with me?”

“…Joong?” Seonghwa sounded so disoriented. “What happened?”

“You fainted,” Hongjoong answered sympathetically. “Stay put, okay? I’m going to make something bland for you to eat so you don’t barf. Here, let’s just get you braced up against the wall – sorry, I don’t have a headboard – okay, good.”

“Sorry,” Seonghwa mumbled, placing a trembling hand to his face. “You must… feel like you’re babysitting me. I know… I know you’re busy, Joong.”

“N-No, no…” Hongjoong stammered.

The truth was that Hongjoong was _very_ busy and this was probably the worst time he could be skipping classes, but they were the furthest thing from his mind now. The only thing he could focus on was tracking Seonghwa’s breathing, and checking to make sure that his pulse wasn’t erratic. So far so good, everything seemed to be okay. As Hongjoong’s shoulders slumped in relief, he shook his head.

“It’s fine,” he said, waving it off as he got to his feet. “You stay put and I’m going to get you something to eat. Any allergies?”

“No, I’m fine,” Seonghwa assured him, swallowing thickly. “Can I… can I get some water, though?”

“Huh? Oh! Shit. Yeah.” Hongjoong nodded and jogged out of the room to his fridge, bringing over a sealed bottle of water. “Here you go. – Now you keep an eye on him, RJ. Remember the code word if he needs help.”

Seonghwa’s eyebrows knitted together in confusion until he realized that Hongjoong was talking to the stuffed alpaca that was lying beside him. “You two have a code word?”

Hongjoong nodded seriously. “It’s a secret.” He suddenly broke out into a wide smile as he gave RJ a pat on the head, adding the snow leopard plush from before to the cuddle pile. “Here, for company.”

“…I had no idea you had so many plushies,” Seonghwa said softly, almost sounding like he was amazed. “Wait, is this the one from the fair that Yunho dragged us to?” he blinked as he held up the snow leopard, tilting his head inquisitively. Hongjoong bit his lip as the image of Seonghwa in his snow leopard form curled up around a plush snow leopard slammed into the forefront of his mind. “Didn’t you win this out of spite?”

“He _challenged_ me,” Hongjoong defended himself, folding his arms. “He was like _you can’t hit those milk bottles down with your tiny hands hyung_ and I nearly dunked him in the water at the rubber ducky game where kids stuck their grubby fingers in. But yes, I did. – argh! I keep getting distracted. Stay put. I’m going to make food.”

Seonghwa’s lips curled into a thin smile. “Don’t you need supervision? Better take RJ.”

“How dare you,” Hongjoong huffed in faux indignation, winking at Seonghwa with a roguish smirk before getting out of the bedroom and heading towards the kitchen, the realization of what he’d done dawning on him as he put distance between Seonghwa and himself. (I _winked at him_.) With a soft groan, Hongjoong put his face in his hands as he leaned against his old fridge, squeezing his eyes shut. “Kim Hongjoong _you dumb fuck_.” He peeled himself off the fridge with herculean effort, pulling together his favourite hangover food, figuring that the blandness of it will help Seonghwa’s sensitive stomach. “Where the hell is that stupid TV dinner tray Yeosang got me as a joke… aha!”

When he finally brought everything back into the bedroom, Seonghwa was looking at him, amusement evident on his beautiful features. “Were you… talking to yourself out there?” he asked curiously.

Heat rushed to Hongjoong’s cheeks and he miraculously kept the tray nice and steady as he knelt down, placing it over Seonghwa’s lap. “I mean, who better to talk to?” he answered weakly. “H-here. Eat as much as you can manage; it’ll refrigerate just fine to warm up later.”

“Mm… a Kim Hongjoong home cooked meal,” Seonghwa murmured, gently picking up the metal chopsticks. “After Yeosang’s one star review last year I didn’t think you’d cook for us again.”

“No, no,” Hongjoong said, shaking his head. “I’ll cook for _you_.”

Seonghwa smiled. “How domestic.”

Turning redder than RJ’s scarf, Hongjoong put a hand over his face. “It’s not that crazy…”

“Thank you, I’m grateful.”

“J-Just eat? Please? My heart can’t take this.”

“…What _can_ it take?”

“H-Huh?” Hongjoong blinked at him.

Seonghwa shook his head, running his tongue over his chapped lips. “Nothing.”

Despite their many years of being friends, living together (even for what would be a temporary amount of time) was still a major adjustment, Hongjoong found. As soon as Seonghwa was able to stand on his own two feet without hurling or fainting, he was cleaning like he was like a man possessed. All Hongjoong could do was stay out of Seonghwa’s way, as the one time he tried to offer a hand, Seonghwa damn near bit his head off.

Deciding he rather liked to be amongst the living, Hongjoong said he’d be working at the studio on campus for a while. He left his cell phone with Seonghwa, mentioning where the studio’s phone number was if he needed it. He was sure that Seonghwa heard him, but it was a little unclear given that the were-cat’s only response to his question was a deep-throated growl and an icy glare. He was just about to turn the corner onto campus when he heard someone call his name. Blinking, Hongjoong turned his head and smiled, seeing two familiar faces walk up to him.

“Long time no see, Namjoon-hyung, Yoongi-hyung,” Hongjoong greeted with a smile, bowing respectfully. “How goes?”

Namjoon, a Jaguar were-cat with his golden hair and bright eyes, smiled widely, his dimples dotting his cheeks. “Can’t complain. It’s a good thing Yoongi-hyung spotted you; we need your help with a track.”

Hongjoong blinked. “You two are making music again?”

Namjoon and Yoongi were known in the underground rap scene as RM and AGUST D, making a splash and disappearing just as quickly. As Mingi put it, they struck like lightning and disappeared like smoke: they’d appear every once in a while to blow the scene up with a mini mix-tape and then vanish before anybody could figure out who they were. Hongjoong had met them by chance during his first year of University, when he still had the time to work on his own flow and go to the scene’s best music clubs.

“With the main business taking off, we haven’t had a lot of time to dedicate to music,” Yoongi explained, looking downright cozy in his layered streetwear. “But there’s something we’ve been poking at and we’re stuck. We figured you’d be able to figure it out. — you available?”

Hongjoong’s eyes widened - getting to work with and learn from RM and AGUST D was a chance he couldn’t pass up. He hesitated, remembering Seonghwa back at the apartment. “Sure, but I can’t stay too late; a friend of mine, he escaped a bad home situation and he’s staying with me for a bit. Can I use your phone to call him? I left my phone with him in case he needed anything. I told him I was going to the campus studio.”

A soft smile came to Namjoon’s lips and he nodded, handing his phone over after unlocking it. “Call him and let him know he can call mine.”

Bowing deeply in thanks, Hongjoong took the phone and quickly dialled his own phone number. “…Hwa? Are you all right?”

“ _It’s stunning you don’t have six generations of dust bunnies living in your house with how little it’s been cleaned_ ,” Seonghwa spat, and Hongjoong blinked slowly.

“Seonghwa-hyung…”

“ _What?_ ”

“Um, I’m going to be helping two of my hyungs at their studio. If you need me for anything, you can call this number. It’s Namjoon-hyung’s phone,” Hongjoong explained carefully, knowing he was already on thin ice with the older man.

There was a long pause as Seonghwa seemed to realize what was being said to him. “ _Oh! I’m sorry. I didn’t even … right, I’ll call this number if I need anything. Have fun, Joong._ ”

A smile came to Hongjoong’s chapped lips. “I’ll be back before dinner _with_ dinner. How are you feeling?”

“ _This is a good distraction,_ ” Seonghwa replied, relief in his voice. “ _Something I can control, you know? I suppose I should be thanking you that your apartment is such a mess_.”

Hongjoong pretended to sigh heavily, but he dissolved into giggles. “Remember that next time you clown me for it. All right, I need to get going, but call this number if you need anything.”

“ _I will_. _”_

After saying his goodbyes and hearing from Seonghwa that he was all right, Hongjoong returned Namjoon’s phone to him with a deep bow. “Thank you, hyung.”

Namjoon nodded and bowed back, taking the phone and slipping it into his pocket. “Is your friend all right?”

“Yes! He’s … well, he’s a clean freak and my apartment is a perpetual work in progress so he’s happy to have something to focus on that he can control,” Hongjoong explained as they started to walk together down the sidewalk. “Honestly, he’s such a whiz at that sort of thing, he’ll probably find a spot for all those clothes Kim Seokjin gave San.”

Yoongi blinked and stopped momentarily, causing Namjoon to stop and for Hongjoong to collide with his back. “Kim Seokjin?”

“Ow! Uh? Oh. Yeah. San’s a mutual friend, works at _Moon_ part time as a waiter, I think? … apparently he’s on a -hyung basis with _Kim Seokjin_ ,” Hongjoong replied, rubbing his nose. “I was going to get some extra clothes for my friend, and San said he had a connection to find them and apparently that connection was Kim Seokjin. Wild, right? What are the odds that he just knows someone like that?”

Namjoon and Yoongi exchanged a look at each other before Yoongi opened the door to their studio. “Does… this San know two someones named Jungkook and Hoseok?” Namjoon asked carefully.

Hongjoong blinked. “Yeah.”

Looks of realization crossed Namjoon and Yoongi’s features, as if puzzle pieces were falling into place. “Small world,” Yoongi said, amused. “This makes sense as to why Jin-hyung was suddenly waxing poetic that he was helping a troubled young soul.”

“Seonghwa’s not _troubled_ , but he was in a pretty bad situation,” Hongjoong clarified, following them further into the building and to one of the offices deep at the end of the hallway which housed Yoongi and Namjoon’s shared studio. “So what’s this track that musical geniuses RM and AGUST D couldn’t figure out that you think little ol’ me could?” he asked with a grin. He couldn’t hide the excitement in his voice; getting to work with such talented and prolific musicians and producers was such an adrenaline rush. Hongjoong was betting on himself to make a living doing music, something that Namjoon and Yoongi did themselves before life took them in a different direction.

Yoongi smirked and guided the youngest out of the three of them over to his side of the studio, queuing up the track. He handed Hongjoong a pair of headphones once he’d disinfected them, and adjusted the EQ levels. “Listen to the whole thing and let us know what you think could be done to improve it. Don’t hold back, just talk it through. Something you say might spark Joon-ah or me.”

“Understood!” Hongjoong confirmed, nodding firmly once he had the FOCALheadphones properly set over his ears. They were ridiculously out of his price range, and any time he could use them, he was going to savour it. Hongjoong closed his eyes as the track started its playback. “Ooh … it’s got a real moody sort of feel … I like it. You don’t really hear hip hop tracks with this kind of …” He tilted his head, appearing much like a confused puppy, his lips protruding out in a pout. “I see what you mean … the background melody … like underneath the synth and the bop bop bop … hyung!” His eyes popped open and he tugged the headphones off his ears. “What about a piano? Like a real one?”

Namjoon returned Hongjoong’s head tilt with one of his own. “A piano? Like for which part?”

“Like… ah!” Hongjoong gently removed the headphones from around his neck, lightly jogging over to the piano that Yoongi had sitting over in the corner of the studio. It was a fairly new model of a Steinway & Sons grand piano, exquisite in its quality and condition - Yoongi treated it as his baby. “Hyung, play the track, just take out that digital keyboard sound underneath the percussion and stuff?”

Yoongi raised an eyebrow but decided to humour Hongjoong - this is what they asked him there for, after all - and removed the synth keyboard out from the mix. He restarted the playback and watched Hongjoong carefully as the third year music production student began to play a haunting yet simple melody alongside the dirty and grimy hip hop beat. Hongjoong was by no means a master pianist, but the deceivingly simple arrangement fit perfectly with the track Yoongi and Namjoon had crafted. The vocals were supported beautifully and weren’t overpowered by the new addition.

As the song finished and Hongjoong looked over at them for approval, both Namjoon and Yoongi shared a silent look before breaking out into wide grins. “I knew you were the one for the job!” Yoongi exclaimed, pulling Hongjoong into a one-armed hug. “We’re putting you on the credits.”

Hongjoong’s eyes widened. HIM? With writing credit on an AGUST D/RM track?? “N-No, you don’t have to do that, hyung! I’m just glad to help,” he protested, shaking his head wildly.

“Don’t be silly,” Namjoon chided. “You worked on this song, you’re getting credit. You deserve to have your work recognized.” He smiled. “So, what name should we put on there?”

Blushing darkly as Yoongi ruffled his hair, Hongjoong mumbled, “Kim Hongjoong is fine. I don’t … I don’t have a cool stage name.” He smiled shyly. “Thank you, hyungs. That … this really means a lot.”

“We should be thanking you!” Namjoon laughed, shaking his head. “When you get your phone back, keep it on you; we might be calling again.”

“Head on back to your friend. Joon-ah and I will order food and have half of it sent to your place,” Yoongi said, clapping him on the back.

Hongjoong’s eyes widened and he shook his head. “No, no! Please, you’ve already done so much, I couldn’t possibly… accept…” he trailed off, being affixed with two very stern stares from his hyungs. “Um. Thank you.” He bowed deeply. He was soon shooed off, and as Hongjoong made his way back to his apartment, a big smile came to his lips.

He couldn’t wait to tell Seonghwa. A dark blush coloured his cheeks and he buried his face in the collar of his hoodie, his eyes peeking out as embarrassment washed over him. He was looking forward to seeing Seonghwa at home.

Home.

He was already so comfortable with the idea that Seonghwa would be waiting for him at home.

God, he was fucked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :O


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seonghwa realizes three things: (1) there is only one bed (2) he needs to get a job and (3) San knows everyone in the city
> 
> This chapter features Stray Kids pretty heavily. :D

“Hwa, you can take the bed.”

Seonghwa looked up from where he was cleaning up the takeout boxes, there having been just enough food for both him and Hongjoong, courtesy of the latter’s music producer hyungs. “What?”

Hongjoong blinked at him. “The bed, you can have it.”

“What are you talking about?” Seonghwa tilted his head, his eyebrows knitting together in confusion. “Isn’t there…” He trailed off as realization struck. He had spent the entire day cleaning up the apartment and only just realized that Hongjoong’s apartment was a _one-bedroom_ apartment. “Joong! This is your apartment! I can’t take the bed.”

His friend snorted. “Seonghwa, you know I can fall asleep standing up. My couch may be ugly but it’s comfy as fuck. I’ll be fine.”

Seonghwa shook his head vehemently. “No! I’m not going to—” he stopped dead in his sentence as Hongjoong put his hands on Seonghwa’s slender, sloped shoulders, bringing their faces distressingly close together. The were-cat’s eyes widened, able to see the pores on Hongjoong’s cheeks and almost count his eyelashes. He wasn’t sure whether the heavy thudding he could hear was from his heart beating in his chest or the blood pounding in his ears. “…Hongjoong?”

“Take the bed,” Hongjoong said quietly, firmly. “I can sleep on the couch. Honestly, the couch and I have been drifting apart so it’s probably for the best that I try and rekindle that relationship—”

“—there’s enough room for both of us,” Seonghwa blurted suddenly, horror rising to his face once he’d realized what he’d said.

Hongjoong’s eyes widened. “…W-What?”

Heat rushed to Seonghwa’s ears, easily visible despite being covered by his pale blond hair. “There’s no point in you ruining your back on that couch when the bed’s big enough. You spend so much time hunched over like a gremlin in the studio and during classes that you should be resting properly when you’re home.” He scoffed and looked away, hoping the long forelocks of his stylish cut hid the blush on his cheeks. “Don’t be a martyr.”

“A _martyr?_ ” Hongjoong echoed in disbelief. “And _gremlin?_ ” he shook his head. “Never mind! I’m sleeping on the couch, you need the bed more than I do. I am putting my foot down.”

Seonghwa raised an eyebrow. “You’re putting your foot down?”

“Yes!”

And so, when it came time to sleep, Kim Hongjoong had lost the battle to Park Seonghwa, finding himself lying ramrod straight and still in his own bed. He was on the left side (Seonghwa apparently had a thing where he needed to be on the right side - Hongjoong did _not_ press it), staring up at the ceiling with his thoughts both running a hundred miles an hour and at a standstill. 

Seonghwa’s own heart was beating out of his chest as he laid perfectly still on his side, eyes wide open as he stared at a particularly fascinating spot underneath Hongjoong’s window. One hand rested underneath his pillow, the other curled to his chest in a vain attempt to get himself under control. Hongjoong’s faded cologne wafted through the air, seemingly intent on suffocating Seonghwa with the sweet smell.

He swallowed, squeezing his eyes shut; sometimes it really was annoying to have a superior sense of smell - he could easily differentiate between the body wash, the faded cologne and Hongjoong’s natural scent and he was very, very pleased by it. Very pleased and very horrified that he was pleased by it. Quietly, Seonghwa put a hand to his face, pressing the pads of his fingers to his temples as he breathed in deeply.

But all that did was give him more of a whiff of Hongjoong’s scent, and he curled in on himself a bit as he exhaled, squeezing his eyes shut. Hongjoong was a natural furnace as well, Seonghwa found, a perfect contrast to himself who ran very cold. He wondered if it was some sort of irony, a snow leopard who should be well suited to the cold was cold all the time instead of running warm to combat it. It was the most comfortable he’d been in some time, even in his own home he’d never felt this warm.

A slight brush from Hongjoong shifting to get comfortable cause a spike in Seonghwa’s blood pressure, his lips slightly parting in surprise. It was nothing more than a brief brush of Hongjoong’s hand against his waist. “Sorry,” Hongjoong mumbled, now on his side facing away from Seonghwa, “are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Seonghwa managed, swallowing down the thickness in his voice.

He was _not_ fine; his mind was running wild, cursing Seonghwa with images of Hongjoong’s smaller, but strong hands gripping his waist and holding him tight to his chest. No, he couldn’t think about that. As much as he wanted it, as much as he craved feeling those hands everywhere, as much as he was desperate to hear those breathless giggles against his skin, that was a line he couldn’t cross. There was too much to lose, too much that Seonghwa treasured to gamble away on a risk that big. There was the chance it was reciprocated, but…

He squeezed his eyes shut again, throwing out the bundle of thoughts entirely. He pulled long legs up to his chest, curling himself into a ball as he tucked his head in. Discarding thoughts of Hongjoong instead got him thoughts of how he’d gotten into Hongjoong’s bed in the first place. His parents had attempted to _sell him_ to cover their debts and he’d escaped somehow, thanks to Wooyoung and San.

He’d always known that the risk was there, to be kidnapped or sought out by less than savoury types because of his rare were-cat variant, but he never thought that the ones to finally do it would be his parents. A choked sob escaped him as he gripped the blanket, eyes screwing shut as he bit on his bottom lip hard enough to break the skin. The people he was supposed to trust most in the world felt they could make the decision to sell him so they could escape financial ruin.

Did they really put a price on him?

God knows what would have happened to him if Wooyoung hadn’t made such a scene to allow San to spirit him out of there. Would he have been sold to a pervert? To some kind of weird collector that kept him in a cage only to be gawked at? Or… would he have been used, like some kind of toy?

A pair of arms slowly came around him, breaking him out of his quickly spiralling state. Seonghwa’s eyes snapped open as he registered Hongjoong’s familiar scent. “Hey,” Hongjoong whispered softly, his voice barely high enough to be heard, “you’re okay. You’re not there anymore. You’re here, and you’re safe.” Seonghwa could hear him swallow, a soft exhale huffing out against his skin, damp with a sudden flop sweat. Is… is this okay? I can … stay like this, if it helps. If not, just… just tell me and I’ll move.”

Seonghwa’s eyes widened as his throat dried out, the feeling of Hongjoong’s smaller body against his filling a void he knew was there but could never find relief from. It wasn’t anything out of the ordinary, he told himself; when the seven of them in their friend group would have parties on the weekend to celebrate getting through hellish midterms or finals or a thoroughly bad week, they’d all sleep in a pile in Wooyoung’s family’s home. Pajama covered limbs everywhere, as nobody could sleep in a normal position if they could help it, apparently.

He told himself it wasn’t out of the ordinary, but while his mind was trying to convince his heart, his heart was not having it. Finally, he found the willpower to open his mouth. “It’s… It helps,” Seonghwa admitted hoarsely. “Sorry, I know you don’t … we’re not … touchy like that, but I’m … I didn’t think… I couldn’t stop thinking about—”

“It’s okay,” Hongjoong whispered, shaking his head against the toned planes of Seonghwa’s upper back, “what you’re going through … I don’t know if I could be half as strong as you. You’re always … I’ve always admired how calm and collected you are, Hwa.” He laughed a little, and Seonghwa could just picture in his mind’s eye Hongjoong’s nose crinkling as his lips split into a wide smile. “I wish I had your strength.”

Briefly, Seonghwa could feel Hongjoong’s arms tighten around his chest, and the snow leopard’s eyebrows furrowed. “…what are you talking about? You’re strong too, Joong … you left everything behind when you were 18, without thinking twice so you could pursue your dream. I don’t know if I would’ve been able to do that, all on my own.”

For a long moment Seonghwa didn’t get a response, and he worried that he’d gotten too personal; Hongjoong didn’t like to talk about his past, about the major fight he’d had with his own family over pursuing a career in music. Hongjoong had shown an aptitude for cooking since he was a small child and his family had hoped he’d go to culinary school and open a restaurant instead of seeking out a musical composition and production degree. They’d threatened to cut him off if he went for it, and Hongjoong went for it, not looking back even once.

He swallowed tightly and turned around in Hongjoong’s arms, a burst of courage swelling up inside of him. Hongjoong’s eyes widened, his lips parted in surprise; it was clear he didn’t think that Seonghwa would turn around. “I don’t know that I would’ve been able to easily open up my home to someone like you did, knowing what kind of trouble it’d bring on their door,” Seonghwa said quietly, not trusting his voice to go any higher, not trusting his hands to stay where they were, pressed tightly to his sides.

“But I’m not opening up my home to just any random stranger, Hwa,” Hongjoong replied, his voice barely higher than Seonghwa’s. “I opened it up to _you_. And I’ll do it as long as you need it.” His hand fell from his side, sliding down until it was resting atop Seonghwa’s in the middle of the small chasm between them on the bed.

“Hongjoong…”

They stared at each other for a long moment, words feeling rather insignificant in light of the change in the air between them. Nothing seemed to fit, every single word that he knew (not inconsequential, given his ambition to become a lawyer and the requirements needed for that profession) feeling like they weren’t going to be able to say enough. Worse yet, Seonghwa worried that saying something at all would destroy the delicate balance they found themselves in. They’d always gone back and forth, he and Hongjoong, consistent in their inconsistency when it came to the other.

Seonghwa’s heart leapt into his throat as Hongjoong’s slender fingers curled around his much larger one and gave it a squeeze. He could feel Hongjoong’s gentle touch straight through to his heart, cradling it as if it were the most precious piece of treasure in the world. He swallowed, shaking his head slightly; he couldn’t let himself fall into that spiral. He couldn’t let his feelings ruin this delicate balance, not when Hongjoong opened up his house to him.

His eyes widened as Hongjoong slowly brought their clasped hands up off the mattress, moving as if he were going to bring Seonghwa’s fingers to his lips. Seonghwa wondered if his heart was as loud as it felt, pounding relentlessly against his chest, the blood thumping like heavy bass in his ears. Hongjoong was so close, just centimetres away, his lips grazing against Seonghwa’s long fingers. Just a little bit closer, if he could just …

Something soft and furry touched the back of Seonghwa’s hand, and he blinked owlishly; it was the snow leopard plush from earlier. Hongjoong gave him a roguish smile and carefully brought Seonghwa’s arms around to give the plush doll a hug. “Don’t forget, your mini me is here to help you get some sleep,” Hongjoong said brightly.

“…R-Right.” Seonghwa felt foolish; what else was he expecting? Hongjoong was a master at breaking the ice with something silly. What would he… what else would he have done? “…Goodnight.”

Hongjoong smiled at him. “Goodnight, Hwa.”

~ * ~

Seonghwa awoke the next morning to find himself wrapped up like a burrito, with both the alpaca and the snow leopard plush tucked in underneath both his arms. Confused, Seonghwa pushed himself up and was about to ask Hongjoong what the hell was his deal with these goddamn plushies when he realized that he was alone in the bed. Further realization dawned when he caught sight of the clock on the small bedside table: it was 9:27 in the morning, and Hongjoong had gone to school. He’d left a note, alongside his cellphone and a list of numbers of where he’d be at what time.

_Seonghwa,_

_Hope you slept well! RJ and Mini-Hwa are there to keep you company. I left my phone and my schedule for you in case you need anything. If you want to let the others know what’s going on, you know the code to my phone._

_Please don’t use these powers for evil._

_-Hongjoong_

Seonghwa’s heart clenched as he gently tucked the note behind the second piece of paper, which was a surprisingly neatly written chart with his class, the room and his classmate’s phone number. He’d gone so far out of his way already for Seonghwa’s sudden appearance in his personal space, and this just took the cake. If he was having a hard time keeping his feelings locked away, this was a battering ram to that locked door. He took a deep breath and shook his head.

He had things to do, there was no time to be thinking about things like _that_.

It was harder than he thought to venture out of Hongjoong’s apartment, but Seonghwa was nothing if not stubborn when it came to overcoming obstacles. He’d pulled himself together enough to shower, get dressed and look somewhat presentable as he had the loose plan of: (1) go outside and (2) find a part-time job. Hongjoong had left his cellphone with Seonghwa again, along with a piece of paper with his schedule and the phone numbers of where he’d be if he needed anything. It was comforting, having the piece of paper with him even if Seonghwa did not intend to use it.

His chest constricted as he stepped out of the apartment building, the chilly mid-November air cutting at his cheeks. A walk around the block wouldn’t be too bad; Seonghwa would have to get used to the neighbourhood at some point. He couldn’t be a hermit forever. It would likely drive himself and Hongjoong mad. It’d only been a day, but already Seonghwa felt restless; a part of him wanted things to return to some semblance of normal, despite how unrealistic it was.

Seonghwa walked with no real destination in mind, confident in his sense of direction. He’d found himself walking along the sidewalk, window-shopping and letting his mind go blank as he looked at the wares being sold by the various shops. A smile came to his lips as he passed a department store window; one of the mannequins was wearing a thoroughly eclectic outfit and Seonghwa instantly thought of Hongjoong. He’d make it work, no fear, and a strut that would be equal parts ridiculous and dripping with confidence.

“Hyung! I didn’t think you’d be out and about already. How are you feeling?” came a voice that Seonghwa belatedly realized belonged to San. The Black Cat was bundled up in late fall wear, but still in all-black with silver-accented jewellery. He wondered if San was allergic to any other colour or if this was an aesthetic choice.

A small smile came to the were-cat’s lips. “Could be better. I was just taking a walk to see if anywhere was hiring.”

San blinked. “You’re looking for a job already? Wouldn’t it…” He lowered his voice, leaning in and prompting Seonghwa to do the same, “be better to lay low for a little bit?” Seonghwa tensed; he hadn’t thought of what San was implying - that he should keep his profile low until the presumed search for him stopped. San must have sensed that his question struck a nerve he wasn’t intending to and he was immediately apologetic. “Seonghwa-hyung! Sorry. I didn’t mean to…”

“N-No, I should be more cognizant of that, you’re right,” Seonghwa said softly, shaking his head. “I guess… I should be thinking of something more… discreet. But I do want to get a part-time job; I want to help Joong with the rent. He says my being there won’t impact him too much but it will, just by the amount of resources it takes to house two people instead of one.”

The other were-cat watched him carefully for a moment with those sharp purple-hued eyes of his. “…you’re really insisting on this?” he asked carefully.

“Yes,” Seonghwa confirmed. “— Please don’t put yourself out for this, Sannie; you’ve done so much already. I don’t want to make you think that you need to ask Mr. Kim for more than you already have. I don’t think I’d make a good waiter at _Moon_ anyway.”

San gave him a small smile. “No, no. Even though I’m sure Jin-hyung would love to have you, it’s too high profile for what you’re looking for. Besides, he’d take one look at you and try to make you one of his models or something; that’s even worse for right now. No, no, I have a better idea. — come with me, let’s talk somewhere private.”

‘Private’ according to Choi San meant a local coffee shop, one that was run by a very cute married couple that seemed to cater especially to tired and stressed out college and university students as a lot of the menu was extremely affordable with a comforting atmosphere. San insisted he buy Seonghwa something, getting two coffees for them both alongside two impossibly huge muffins. “You didn’t have to do this,” Seonghwa insisted. “I’m the hyung, I should be—”

“Hush,” San commanded gently, shaking his head. “Don’t worry about that. I just have one question for you: What are you looking to do?”

“I … don’t know, now that you’ve brought up a really good point,” Seonghwa murmured, staring down at his muffin. “It needs to be flexible, I’m still … going to school … god, what am I going to do about tuition?”

San raised an eyebrow. “Hyung, you’re practically on a free ride. I’ve seen your grades; Wooyoung won’t stop bitching about how you nailed getting those scholarships.”

Seonghwa’s cheeks flushed a dark pink and he shook his head. “It’ll have to be something I can do at night,” he continued, ignoring San. “Convenience store, maybe?”

San snorted. “I have a better idea. Why don’t you work at a Host Bar? Put those good looks to use.”

Seonghwa blinked. “Host Bars? You mean where women pay for the company of handsome men while they drink and eat? Aren’t those… predatory? Like… don’t they prey on vulnerable women and drain them dry?”

“Some are like that,” San admitted. “But the one I’m thinking of does everything above board. I don’t think Bang Chan could do anything illegal even if a gun was pointed to his head.”

“Bang Chan…?”

“Christopher Bang,” San replied, smiling as he pulled out his phone to show Seonghwa a picture of two brightly smiling young men around their age. He recognized one as Hoseok, making the other one Bang Chan. “He’s another Black Cat, ex-pat from Australia and one of Hoseok-hyung’s friends. He runs a Host Bar called _God’s Menu_ and he’s always looking for more hosts since they’re gaining in popularity. Wanna come and meet him? Get a feel for the situation?”

Seonghwa’s brows furrowed. “What’s the pay situation like? Do you know?”

“You get paid a salary, then extra commission for drinks and food ordered by the customer,” San explained. “Chan can explain the rest to you if you wanna go and meet him. He’s the nicest guy; I think you’d love him.”

“How do you know all these people, Sannie?” Seonghwa asked, impressed.

San grinned. “When you’re a stray, you meet all sorts of people. It’s good to keep in contact with them; never know when they’d need a hand or you do. Now, finish up your muffin. I paid good money for it.”

~ * ~

 _God’s Menu_ was a stylish little club with a very clear, cool aesthetic. A young man with shockingly blond hair dressed in a finely tailored suit in a colour that Seonghwa had not considered an option was hanging out by the front door, leaning against it and scrolling through his phone. His eyes lit up when he saw San and he grinned, pulling the lollipop out of his mouth. “San!” he exclaimed. “What are you doing here, cuz? Chan’s been talking about getting you back on the roster for next Halloween.”

“Have you worked _everywhere?_ ” Seonghwa asked, blinking slowly. He was beginning to realize that the phrase ‘black cats always wander’ was more of a summary than just a myth.

San gave him a wink before turning to the excitable young man. “Felix, is Chan-hyung in? I have someone who’s looking for a job here.”

Felix’s eyes lit up further and he nodded, pushing himself off the wall and sliding his phone into his pocket. “Yeah, come on in! — Oh, hey. I’m Lee Felix.” He stuck out his hand to Seonghwa before realizing something and retracting his hand and bowing instead.

Seonghwa returned the bow with a small smile. “Park Seonghwa; it’s nice to meet you, Felix. — This place is really cool. Is it really just a Host Bar?” It seemed to be more of a restaurant with an extensive bar section.

“It’s also a restaurant,” Felix explained as he brought them through the bar. “But the majority of our customers are here for the Host Bar. — Chan-hyung! San’s back!”

Coming out from the back office was a tall young man with jet black hair and several silver earrings lining up the outer edge of his right ear. Tattoos similar to San’s but aesthetically different were noticeable on the backs of Chan’s hands and peeking out from underneath the neck of his black button-down shirt. Like San, Chan was clad head to toe in black and he seemed to thrive in the dark colour. His expression brightened considerably when he caught sight of San and pulled the younger man into a big hug.

“Choi San!” Chan exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear. “I haven’t seen you in ages! I heard you finally settled down.” He flicked San’s soulmate earring and gave him what was quite possibly the brightest laugh Seonghwa had ever heard. “About time.”

San huffed and swatted at him. “Quit it. — what about you?” He reached out to flick an earring on Chan’s right ear, silvery white with a blood red broken heart charm dangling from it. It looked similarly enough to San’s soulmate earring that Seonghwa realized that’s what it must have been. “You’d better be nice to me otherwise I won’t bring you your new No. 1 host.” He paused. “Your new No. 2, because I was always No. 1, even when I wasn’t working here.”

“Still salty about the time Hyunjin beat you in that head-to-head competition, eh?” Chan asked, grinning. San’s salty glare in return was all the answer he needed and he turned to Seonghwa and bowed respectfully. “I’m Christopher Bang, but you’ll also hear me called Bang Chan… so just Chan is fine. It’s nice to meet you.”

San sucked his teeth in fake disapproval before his lips split into a devilish smirk. “You’re not introducing yourself by going ‘I’m Chris Bang _bang!_ Anymore?” He presented a finger gun to Chan, pretending to fire off a shot with a sensationalized wink. “I really liked that one.”

Horror creeped up on Chan’s handsome features as Felix threw his head back letting out a shriek of laughter. “I _explicitly_ said we weren’t going to talk about that anymore!” Chan hissed as he grabbed San into a headlock.

“Mercy!” San laughed, tapping the older man’s forearm. “I’m on my sixth life out of nine! I need all of them! Mercy!” He could barely get the last word out, he was laughing so hard.

Seonghwa smiled; he could see how San would frequent this place if the energy was so nice. “I’m Seonghwa. I’m looking to work here part time in between University. San said that this was a pretty flexible place.”

“That’s not the only thing that’s flexible,” a young man with red hair said as he walked back, a smirk on his lips.

“Minho!” Chan admonished in horror, putting a hand over his eyes as Felix’s cackle reached critical mass. “I’m so sorry. I would say it’s not usually like this, but…”

Seonghwa laughed. “No, no. I’m used to energy like this.” He paused. “I do have a question for you, though: what exactly is … hosting? I have an idea, but…”

Chan made a soft noise and nodded, bringing Seonghwa over to a booth while San was pulled along by Felix to greet the other hosts. “It’s essentially having conversations with people but they’re paying for our company. We’re fulfilling a fantasy, giving them an escape for them where life isn’t as awful or restrictive and upsetting, you know? Each one of the hosts has a personality profile and that helps the customers pick - cool, sweet, flirty, bad boy, that sort of thing. Harmless flirting is involved but the customers know that we’re not going to go home with any of them. If anybody asks, we shut it down.”

“What about… jealous significant others?” Seonghwa asked softly. “Or stalkers?”

“Happens from time to time but we’ve got a pretty good security team,” Chan replied, scratching lightly at his nose, around the diamond stud piercing. “We try our best to filter out the bad apples, though.” He smiled. “Want me to show you an example of a hosting appointment?”

Seonghwa blinked. “Sure.”

Whistling loudly, Chan caught the attention of the other hosts. “Minho! Hyunjin! Come over here; I’d like you to show Seonghwa here what a hosting appointment at _God’s Menu_ is like.”

Two very handsome young men came over, and Seonghwa wondered why he was surprised; of course the men at a host bar would be attractive. He felt a bit out of place, but watched carefully as Minho took the role of host, with Hyunjin sitting in the customer position. Seonghwa watched curiously as the appointment unfolded - it really did seem like a very flirty conversation with smooth interjections to order food and drink sprinkled in. It quickly devolved into a game of chicken where the two hosts tried to get the other to crack, but by that point Seonghwa had gotten the gist.

“I just have one question for you,” Chan murmured, catching Seonghwa’s attention. “Do you want people to know you’re a were-cat?”

The question caught Seonghwa off guard; he wasn’t expecting such a question from Chan, but it was clear that the man was a sharp reader of energies. “I’d rather they didn’t know,” Seonghwa replied hesitantly. “Is that all right?”

To his surprise, Chan smiled and nodded. “If that’s what you want, then of course it is. Everyone here is a were-cat and it’s promoted like that, but there’s no issue in keeping that side of you secret. You could probably play up the mystery for the clients that do ask.”

Relieved, Seonghwa nodded. “Thank you.”

“Ah, I lied; I had a second question: when can you start?” Chan asked, grinning.

“As soon as possible.”

His first week as a Host at _God’s Menu_ was quite possibly one of the craziest experiences that Seonghwa had endured and that included the time he and Hongjoong were mistaken for a couple by a stressed wedding planner and used as stand-ins for a rehearsal dinner. Getting used to the dynamic with those that Chan called his Stray Kids was equally as wild, but Seonghwa was beginning to flourish.

The initially awkward nights with Hongjoong were also beginning to smooth themselves out, as between Hongjoong’s odd hours at school and practically sleeping at the studio and Seonghwa working nights and going to school during the day, they were missing each other at the apartment constantly. At school, the others were clearly aware that something had happened, but out of respect for Seonghwa, they’d kept their questions to themselves. As much as Seonghwa wanted to tell his dear friends what was going on, he was still grappling with his new reality himself and needed time. In a way, he liked keeping the secret to himself (and, well, to San) that he was working at _God’s Menu_ , it gave him something he could control.

It was also during his first week that he also found out why it was that Chan called the hosts Stray Kids, and he nearly lost his mind from the softness.

He’d been paired with Felix, a Lynx were-cat, for his first week as visually they cut a very striking picture together with their blond hair and bright eyes. Felix, Seonghwa quickly learned, could go from sweet and fluffy to devastatingly confident in a heartbeat; something that Seonghwa had been noted to do himself - particularly when it was time to demonstrate his knowledge in a presentation.

“Ne, Felix~” cooed one of his customers, a beautiful woman in her mid twenties named Iseul. “You’re very close with Bang Chan, aren’t you? I had him as my host once, he mentioned that he has such a cute nickname for all of you!”

Felix laughed and bit his lip with a shy smile. “He does, but he says I can’t tell anybody unless they order his favourite drink.”

She appeared intrigued, and although Seonghwa was fairly certain she knew as well as Felix did that the host was buttering her up in order to purchase a drink, she was willing to play along. “Oh? And what is Channie’s favourite drink?”

The young host smiled brightly and turned his tablet around to show her what appeared to be a beautifully crafted cocktail that was bright pink and yellow, with skillfully arranged fruit hanging off a shining golden-hued stirring stick. “This one! _Miroh_.”

“As expected, he has good taste,” the customer giggled, putting a finely manicured hand over her mouth. “Well, I think we all deserve a little drink, don’t you think? Your handsome friend included.” She gave Seonghwa a wink, to which Seonghwa easily winked back. He could play along.

“We’ll definitely show you a good time, Iseul-noona!” Felix replied with a bright laugh. “Three _Miroh_ ordered~”

“I believe you owe me an answer, Mr. Lee,” Iseul pointed out in a sing-song voice.

Felix hummed thoughtfully before breaking out into a peal of surprisingly strong laughter. “Okay, okay! Chan-hyung calls us all his Stray Kids because all of us were stray were-cats; we didn’t have families or anywhere to go. At some point or another… we all found our way here and Chan-hyung took us in.” A fond smile creased Felix’s tinted lips and he played with an earring on his left ear that stood out against the rest, his slender fingers curling around the blood red charm. “We became each other’s family.”

Iseul’s eyes widened, and she put a hand to her mouth, this time in true awe. “That’s the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard!” She smiled at Seonghwa. “And are you the newest family member?”

Seonghwa smiled, allowing a bit of genuine gratefulness enter into it. “Yes,” he answered, looking down at his ring-adorned fingers. “They say that Black Cats are bad omens, but Chan-hyung gave me a chance to work here on nothing more than the word of a mutual friend. I’ll forever be grateful.” He glanced up, catching Iseul’s eyes with an intense gaze as he took her hand in his. “But not as grateful as I am for meeting you today. Will you stay with us for a little bit longer?”

He could see Felix’s eyes widen and his mouth open in surprise out of the corner of his eyes, and knew he’d made a good move. Iseul’s cheeks turned bright red and she sputtered something embarrassedly before shyly reclaiming her hand as the drinks arrived. “I don’t know how I could say no to you,” Iseul murmured quietly. “Excuse me for a moment; I just need to freshen up.”

“Of course, the washrooms are just down the hall and to the left,” Seonghwa replied softly, his icy blue eyes glinting in the dim light of the club. Iseul stammered her thanks and hurried off to get herself composed.

“That was amazing, Hwa-hyung!” Felix whispered as the waiter put the colourful drinks down on their table. “I don’t think I’ve seen Iseul-noona get so flustered.”

Seonghwa laughed a little and shook his head. “I’m not doing anything special.”

Felix ran his tongue along his tinted lips and tilted his head, as if apprising the older man with cat-like curiosity. “Okay… I wanna see you handle the next customer on your own. I’m going to be your support.”

Seonghwa stared at him. “What?”

“You’ll be fine! You can’t blow it worse than Changbinnie! His first week is still in our hall of shame.”

“HEY.”

Seonghwa bit his lip to hide a smile as a young man with a hooded gaze and dirty blond hair came by and lightly smacked Felix upside the head. “Challenge accepted.”

After Iseul, Felix’s next customer was a high-powered attorney named Jinae who was in her early 30’s and was intent on making partner before the end of the year. Where Iseul liked to dote on Felix, Jinae was more interested in the other half of Felix’s duality, where he made extensive use of his surprisingly deep register.

“Noona,” Felix murmured, smiling at her with a curl of his lips that reminded Seonghwa of Hongjoong’s patented smirk. “I want to introduce you to a friend of mine. This is Seonghwa-hyung. I needed to bring in some help to handle you.” He chuckled.

Now that the attention was on him, Seonghwa smiled back and inclined his head slightly. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I think it was fate that we met tonight; I’m intending to enter law school myself. Do you mind if I ask you some questions? To learn from such an accomplished attorney on a night like tonight… I think fortune’s finally smiling on me.”

The lines were hokey, sure, but Seonghwa was being honest that he wanted to talk to her. As soon as he mentioned that he was an attorney hopeful, Jinae’s entire mood shifted - she became more excitable, more animated as she talked about what legal fields that she was interested in and what she was working in now.

Felix’s eyes widened, as he suddenly became the third wheel. A grin soon sprang to his lips and he watched, rapt, while Seonghwa effortlessly and seamlessly guided the conversation, never once making Jinae feel silly for being excited about her career. He pulled out his phone and sent a text message to Chan.

 **To: Channie ♥ [10:15 p.m.]  
** Hey, Channie-hyung  
Seonghwa-hyung is amazing; I think he’s going to steal Jinae-noona from me 

**From: Channie ♥ [10:15 p.m.]  
** Really? That’s good to hear.  
That he’s a natural  
Not that he’s stealing customers lol  
I suppose I shouldn’t be too surprised if he’s friends with San

Felix giggled to himself and put a hand over his mouth as he flicked his eyes up to watch Seonghwa and Jinae. They were still deep into conversation, so he returned his attention back to his phone.

 **To: Channie ♥ [10:16 p.m.]  
** He’s definitely got this cool mature vibe about him  
I think the noonas are going to go crazy for him  
Oops – I think it’s time for me to step in

 **From: Channie ♥ [10:16 p.m.]  
** Good luck, Felix  
 **♥** ☺

Seonghwa’s tone was soft but firm as he talked to Jinae, his expression neutral but with flits of interest seeping in - something that Jinae’s sharp eyes clearly caught and she got more into the conversation. By the time that her appointment ended, Felix was certain that Seonghwa had just gotten himself a damn good reference. Jinae even asked for Seonghwa next time by name when she spoke with Chan.

“You _stole_ her from me!” Felix faux-accused with a boisterous laugh, lightly smacking Seonghwa’s shoulder. “Jinae-noona just _abandoned_ me for you!” He pretended to sob, throwing his head back. “What am I going to do?”

“I’m sure you’ll be fine with your other 200 regulars,” Seonghwa chuckled, lightly poking Felix’s freckled cheek. “But … this is pretty fun. I can see why people would do this, on both sides. It’s almost as if we’re modern day Geishas.”

“Something like that,” Felix laughed.

A text popped up on his (well, Hongjoong’s phone) from Wooyoung’s number:

 **From: Wooyoungie [10:27 p.m.]  
** Hwa, I’m done at the studio! I’ll meet you at home; I’m making dinner for you and definitely not Wooyoungie because he’s being rude and the worst child ever -HJ

 **From: Wooyoungie [10:28 p.m.]  
** HYUNG :(

 **To: Wooyoungie [10:30 p.m.]  
** Sounds good. I’ll be done at 12:30 a.m.

 **From: Wooyoungie [10:31 p.m.]  
** This is Wooyoung - you should send him a picture of any cute coworkers you have to make him jealous

 **From: Wooyoungie [10:32 p.m.]  
** WOOYOUNG YOU INSOLENT LITTLE —

 **From: Wooyoungie [10:33 p.m.]  
** Actually just send him a picture of you at work in your uniform.  
He’ll probably cradle the phone to his chest

 **From: Wooyoungie [10:34 p.m.]  
** I feel so called out right now  
SHIT - 

A surprised, but very pleased smile came to his lips, he slipped the phone into his pocket, returning his attention to the insanity that was Felix begging Chan to not fire him since Seonghwa took all his clients. The other Stray Kids were at varying degrees of laughing their heads off or shaking them ruefully. Seonghwa knew that if Hongjoong ever came here, he’d love it. 

Hongjoong.

Home.

Hongjoong was home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I relate to Chan on a spiritual level
> 
> What kind of were-cats do you think the other Stray Kids are? :D


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> San has a Birthday/Christmas crisis ... a crisis named Jung Wooyoung. Barely two and a half weeks into a relationship with his soulmate after a very rocky start, San has no idea what to get Wooyoung for his birthday nor for Christmas. Luckily, Seonghwa, Chan and Felix are here to help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is entirely about WooSan with a sprinkling of ChanLix! We'll catch up with SeongJoong in the next chapter~

When Seonghwa clocked out of his shift the next night at _God’s Menu_ , he was not expecting to see San leaning against the wall, waiting for him and nervously chewing on a lollipop stick. “San?” Seonghwa asked gently, “are you all right?”

Jumping as if jolted by a shock of electricity, San dropped the lollipop stick and cursed. “Sorry, hyung,” he mumbled, raking a hand through his black hair. “I’m … this is stupid and I shouldn’t be bugging you when you’re just coming off work, but…”

Seonghwa’s brows furrowed. “What is it?” He gently tugged San to the side so they weren’t blocking the doorway.

“I don’t know what to get Wooyoung for his birthday next week nor for Christmas and I’m running out of time,” San explained in a rush, his cheeks flushed from embarrassment and the cold night air. “I can’t afford much and while I _know_ that … I know that he wouldn’t want me to do something stupid like overextend myself to get him something, I need to get him _something_.”

As they began to walk to the subway station, Seonghwa hummed softly. “You might be approaching this the wrong way,” he started carefully. “Think about what Wooyoung likes and go from there. You spent an entire semester following him around; I’m sure you know more than you think.”

San frowned. “I start spiralling out once I start thinking about that. He’s a complete and total nerd for literature and history and _political_ history, but what can I even do with that? He’s got all these first editions already of his favourite books and things called _omnibuses???_ I don’t know…”

It was rare to see San so spun out, and Seonghwa put a gentle hand on his shoulder, giving it a squeeze. “It doesn’t have to be anything big, or grandiose. I’ve seen a bunch of people making all sorts of things from antique book covers - like wallets, bracelets, earrings… I remember you saying that you like to make jewelry and that sort of thing. Is there something you could do with that?”

Silence stretched as San’s purple eyes narrowed slightly, his lips pursed; the wheels were clearly turning in his head. “Would… that really be enough? I … this is my first chance to really make up for what happened between us…”

“San-ah,” Seonghwa chided lightly, giving him a nudge with his elbow. “You spent the entire summer and fall beating yourself up about that, and god knows Wooyoung did the same. You two have a fresh start; I’d make use of it. Now, focus.” He flicked San’s forehead.

“Ngh!” San hissed, raising a hand to touch his forehead. He stopped as he looked up at the snow starting to fall from the sky, thankful that there wasn’t a chilling breeze to go along with it. “Something… with antique book covers…?”

“Or maybe you could make something fun referencing something the two of you shared,” Seonghwa suggested. “As long as the thought is there and it came from your heart, I know Wooyoung will love it.” He winked. “You don’t need to be nearly as extra as he is with his gifts.”

As if to further bolster his point, Seonghwa raised his wrist, where Wooyoung’s friendship bracelet made for him by the other were-cat rested, with silver and sapphires that glittered in the moon’s light. Wooyoung was the heir to a very successful jewelry business, and had a talent for creating very unique pieces that garnered significant attention in the jewelry world. He’d made high end friendship bracelets for the group two years before he met San, surprising the hell out of the lot of them. Seonghwa, like San, wasn’t sure he’d deserved such a fancy gift, but Wooyoung wouldn’t take no for an answer and insisted he accept it.

San watched him carefully, tongue worrying at his lip ring. He’d affixed a thin silver chain to the lip ring that connected to one of his many earrings along the outer shell of his left ear and Seonghwa wondered how he managed with it; god knows he’d have gotten it caught on something by now. “Do you really think it’d be enough?”

“ _Yes_ ,” Seonghwa confirmed, nodding firmly. “Make it from the heart and he’ll love it. If not, you have my permission to kick his ass.”

San laughed at that, his nose crinkling as his eyes squeezed shut. He smiled and brought his arms around Seonghwa in a tight hug. “Thank you, I think… I think I have an idea of what to do now. I won’t keep you much longer, I know you just got off a pretty long shift.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Seonghwa assured him, hugging him back after a moment’s pause. Gently, his long fingers scritched at the nape of San’s neck, right where the buzzed part of his haircut started, smiling as San practically melted at the touch. All were-cats were partial to that, it seemed. “If you really can’t get something tangible together, give him an experience; he loves making memories.” His voice dropped to a lower register. “You didn’t hear this from me but he definitely has a scrap book and one of those newer Polaroid camera things.”

San’s eyes widened, excited by this new, embarrassing information he’d learned about his soulmate. “ _No way_.”

Seonghwa placed a finger to his own lips, and grinned. “He’ll kill me if he finds out I told you, but I’ve seen them and they’re adorable. Just… use that information as you will.”

“I won’t tell him you told me,” San promised. “But that is definitely something that I’m going to keep for later.” He grinned and gave Seonghwa another hug before breaking away. “I’ve got to ask Chan something before he leaves … ah, who am I kidding? He practically lives at _God’s Menu_. — need me to walk with you the rest of the way to the subway station?”

Bless him, San was so sweet. Seonghwa shook his head. “No, I’ll be fine.” A little part of him wanted to accept San’s offer; he’d gotten into the habit of going a different route to the station each time, never giving a set pattern or route of when he left just to be safe. He’d just go a bit faster this time. “Good luck, Sannie.”

“Thank you! If you need to, call me and I’ll stay on the line with you!” San called, turning around and hurrying off towards the Host Bar. He pulled the collar of his coat up, fluffing up his scarf as the temperature dropped a bit more. He was right to have gone to Seonghwa; while he treasured his friendship with the others, he knew that the eldest of the friend group would have the most grounded advice to give.

 _God’s Menu_ was technically closed, but San knew they would be open for at least another hour and Chan himself would be on the main floor for another two given his penchant for overworking himself. He opened the door with his spare key, slipping in. “Which one of you didn’t go home?” Chan called, sliding out on his rolling chair. “Seungmin, you _chose_ to live with Minho and Jisung —”

“It’s me, hyung!” San called, closing and locking the door behind him. “I wanted to ask you about something. — shouldn’t you be gone upstairs by now?”

Chan snorted and pushed himself up from his chair, stretching out his long limbs. “You know I’ve gotta make sure the books are all correct and that the payroll gets to be processed properly. — Don’t even start with me about how I need to hire someone for that, I know, everyone’s been telling me but it’s just taken me a while to find someone that works with everyone, all right?” He paused and laughed sheepishly, rubbing his neck right where a beautifully detailed _golden wattle_ tattoo curled up the side of his nape, the pale yellow petals gorgeous against his tanned skin. “I hope that’s not what you came here to talk to me about.”

“No, but you really need to just hire an accountant already,” San replied, shaking his head. “You read a lot of books, right?”

Chan raised an eyebrow. “Yeah? Where is this going?”

Embarrassed, San burrowed into his scarf a bit, hoping to hide his blush. “I was wondering if you knew of a place that has a lot of antique books, or like, has … old book covers that they wouldn’t mind someone buying them and turn them into… say … a present for their soulmate. Their super rich soulmate who has everything he could ever want and deserves the world but I’m the broke-ass Black Cat they got saddled with.”

Their relationship was still so new, barely a few weeks old and already San was confronted with two major gift-giving occasions – Wooyoung’s birthday and Christmas. In his head, he knew that he didn’t have to do anything crazy, that Wooyoung would enjoy literally anything San gave him, but deep down… deep down San felt inadequate. Wooyoung was vibrant and loud and wonderful, the well-loved son of two very successful people. San… San was a stray, a Black Cat that mainly cast Hexes on people for money and never really had a stable job or lifestyle. It had been by design, and it was now biting him in the ass. 

As happy as he was to finally have a relationship with his soulmate, San felt like he was going to screw it up with each breath he took. It was a miracle they were even together in the first place in San’s mind; Wooyoung’s ex had sought a compel truth hex to be cast on Wooyoung in order to figure out if he’d been cheating… at least, that’s what she told them.

Hoseok had his suspicions about her intentions and asked San to find out if Wooyoung was really cheating on his girlfriend. San did as asked, but not before making a giant mess out of the whole thing. Wooyoung’s ex had been planning to use the truth hex to rob Wooyoung by stealing loose diamonds from one of the jewelry stores they owned, and although San never cast the hex he’d been requested to, he felt immeasurably guilty about the circumstances he and Wooyoung became closer under.

Somehow… somehow Wooyoung forgave him and they were beginning to navigate a future together. Even in the short few weeks that they’d been officially together, San felt a sick, anxious lump in his stomach and throat whenever he thought about how someone as witty, smart and lively as Wooyoung got stuck with a walking disaster like himself. He liked to give off a smooth and calculating aura, but the reality couldn’t have been further from the truth.

A deep frown creased Chan’s lips and he put his hands on San’s shoulders, giving him a gentle but firm shake. “San, I don’t ever want to hear you say that you’re not worthy of the love of your soulmate, yeah?” he said seriously. “Fate obviously feels that you deserve it and I say you deserve all the love in the world too. Now. You’re looking for antique book covers?”

“…Yeah,” San mumbled. “I want to… I want to make him something for his birthday… it’s on the 26th, then there’s Christmas just under a month later…”

He felt a heavy weight suddenly press against his back, craning his neck to see Felix’s bright golden eyes in the dark and the light glinting off the blood red half heart charm on one of his many earrings. He wondered about the two of them… if anything had changed. “What about a book cover sleeve-y thing?” Felix suggested, tilting his head.

“Oh that’s a good idea,” Chan agreed, smiling fondly at the scene before him. “If he likes to read, a handmade book sleeve made out of an antique book cover would work really well. Something … more jewelry centric could be for Christmas, as you’d have more time for it.”

San’s eyes widened as his brain began to turn, the steps of the plan falling into place. “That’s… brilliant. You two are brilliant!” He let out a relieved sound and hugged Chan, whose long arms came around to hug them both. “Thank you!”

“Anytime, cuz!” Felix giggled, nuzzling San from his back-hug. “You never let us help you so there’s no way Chan-hyung and I are gonna let this go.”

“I accept help!” San protested feebly, ducking into his scarf when Felix decided that pinching the other’s cheeks was an appropriate punishment. “I just… rarely need it, that’s all.”

Chan snorted as he carefully pried Felix off the other Black Cat, as if he didn’t do it now, San would find himself with a cuddle bug that would be permanently affixed to him. “Whatever you need to tell yourself,” he said lightly, though there was mischief in his yellow and blue eyes. “But even though you definitely don’t need help, there’s something I’ve been meaning to pick up at this boutique book store so I’m gonna tag along with you tomorrow if that’s okay.”

Felix smirked. “Can’t stay still even on your day off, can you?”

“No rest for the wicked,” Chan replied with a bit of a roguish grin. He clapped a hand on San’s shoulder. “And you and I both know that San doesn’t need help so this is just for me.”

“I _don’t_ need help,” San muttered, embarrassed.

“He doesn’t need help,” Felix agreed, giggling into his hand. “I just remembered there’s something I’ve been meaning to get from there too. We could make it a big trip together!” At San’s wounded noise, Felix’s loud peal of laughter resounded throughout the silent bar. “I’m just kidding!”

San folded his arms, hiding his face beneath his scarf so they couldn’t see him sulking. “Rude.” 

~ * ~

 **From: Wooyoung [9:03 a.m.]  
** Are you awake yet?

 **To: Wooyoung [9:05 a.m.]  
** I wouldn’t be texting you if I wasn’t

 **From: Wooyoung [9:06 a.m.]  
** Shut your mouth

 **To: Wooyoung [9:07 a.m.]  
** It is; we’re texting  
Besides, that’s not what you were saying last night

 **From: Wooyoung [9:07 a.m.]  
** OH MY GOD  
I wanted to tell you I made reservations for my birthday dinner  
With the guys  
and you :P

 **To: Wooyoung [9:08 a.m.]  
** Shouldn’t you be in class?  
I’ll tell Professor Kim on you  
He likes me best

 **From: Wooyoung [9:09 a.m.]  
** He does not  
And shut up, I can multi-task

 **To: Wooyoung [9:10 a.m.]  
** I have evidence that proves the otherwise but go off

 **From: Wooyoung [9:11 a.m.]  
** I’m trading you in for a more supportive soulmate  
ANYWAY.  
It’s going to be on the 26th at God’s Menu  
I’ll pick you up at 7  
Suit up

 **To: Wooyoung [9:12 a.m.]  
** …did you say God’s Menu?

 **From: Wooyoung [9:12 a.m.]  
** I mean I wrote it, but yeah.  
Why? 

**To: Wooyoung [9:12 a.m.]  
** That’s a Host Bar, Woo.  
You planning on getting a host for your birthday?  
Am I no longer enough for you?  
Rude  
I’m returning your gift

 **From: Wooyoung [9:14 a.m.]  
** What?! No!  
First of all  
How dare you  
Second of all  
It’s a restaurant too  
Anyway, wear that Dior suit my mom got you  
The one you’re wearing to dinner with my parents 

**To: Wooyoung [9:15 a.m.]  
** Fine  
Get back to work you bum

 **From: Wooyoung [9:15 a.m.]  
** Yeah, you love this bum 

**To: Wooyoung [9:16 a.m.]  
** Yeah. I do.   
I love you, Wooyoung.

 **From: Wooyoung [9:20 a.m.]  
**!  
San…  
WAIT  
YOU REALLY JUST TOLD ME YOU LOVED ME  
FOR THE FIRST TIME  
OVER **TEXT?**

 **To: Wooyoung [9:16 a.m.]  
** Yes you drama queen  
Because you’re in class  
But fine.

[voice clip attached: _I love you, Jung Wooyoung_.]

He received a garbled voice clip in response, Wooyoung completely flustered and trying to be both mad and touched at the same time, which was very _him_. Taking pity on his stressed out boyfriend, and flustered himself from having said the three big words so suddenly, San hastily sent a ‘see you later tonight’ text, slipping the phone into his pocket as he looked over to where Chan was coming up the street. Similarly clad in black, they cut quite the striking visual together, like two fashion goths doing a wintery photoshoot.

“Morning,” San greeted with a little bow. “Felix not coming?” he asked with a little smile.

“Oh, he’s not getting up this early,” Chan replied, laughing and shaking his head. “He’s… he was really happy to see you, you know. Always asking what you were doing and if I could get you to visit more.” He smiled. “You’re more than welcome to pop by whenever you want, you know.”

San smiled and adjusted his scarf as the pair began to walk, with San following Chan’s lead. “I appreciate it,” he started, shoving his hands into his pockets. “And I’ll probably take you up on that offer at some point; gotta get a more stable job going. Somehow, Wooyoung’s parents aren’t horrified that their son is dating a Black Cat. Anything’s better than someone who tried to steal from them, I guess; bar’s on the floor.”

Chan glanced at him from out of the corner of his eye. “I’m guessing they don’t know you cast hexes for a living?”

“Not really,” San sighed, frowning thinly. “I think they know; they’re pretty smart people and well-connected. They know I work at _Moon_ , which… is mostly true? I might just bite the bullet and ask Jin-hyung if he can hire me full time.”

Humming softly, Chan nodded and blinked away a snowflake that fell into his eyelashes. “It might help you feel less aimless,” he agreed. “I know I felt that way for a long time until I scraped enough funds to open the bar.” He smiled. “Thanks for helping in those early days; I really owe you.”

“We’re more than even,” San replied, smiling. “…hyung, mind if I ask you something? It’s personal so … feel free to tell me to buzz off.”

“Sure, go for it,” Chan said easily, turning down the sidewalk.

“…how are things with you and Felix?” San asked, glancing quickly at the older Black Cat. “The last time I saw you two, you were… you wanted to wait before telling him about the soulmate earring.”

Chan’s eyes widened slightly and he seemed fixated on a traffic light several feet away before finally responding. “He figured it out before I could tell him,” he answered after a while. “I… I didn’t want to pressure him _and_ I’m in a position of power at the Bar, which makes things worse. Luckily he rooms with Changbin in an apartment not far from here so he’s not in the spare room in my apartment suite above the building… I think I would’ve evaporated from guilt if that was the case.”

“ _Guilt?_ From what? You don’t have an inappropriate bone in your body,” San pointed out, raising an eyebrow.

With a groan, Chan covered his face with his gloved hands. “I know! But I... I was scared about how he'd react, so I kept putting it off and when he suggested moving in with Changbin, I ... well, long story short I messed up. But... I should’ve known that he would’ve figured out before that, but I was kind of hoping he wouldn’t notice our earrings matched.”

“You were hoping he wouldn’t notice that the two of you share the exact same earring that no one’s ever seen anywhere else?” San asked skeptically. “Hyung. I love you. You’re one of the smartest people I know but you’re also one of the dumbest. Felix stares at you so much that I think his eyes are permanently plastered to your face.”

“Shut up!” Chan whined, his face still in his hands.

San reached out and tugged him to the side to avoid a stream of people that were walking in the other direction. “So, what happened?”

Chan sighed and finally moved his hands down from his face. “Hoseok-hyung came in one night with his soulmate, Min Yoongi. Anniversary dinner. Felix was waiting tables that night as he didn’t have appointments until the next night, and he got to talking to them and of course the whole soulmate thing came out. He says that it all clicked for him at that moment and he found me as soon as the bar closed to ask me out.”

“ _He_ asked _you_ out?” San was impressed.

Chan nodded, red colouring his cheeks. “He just looked at me with those wide eyes of his, took my hands in his, and said ‘your hands look heavy; shall I hold them?’ with complete and utter sincerity before bursting out laughing from nerves and asking me to go out with him for dinner. We talked everything about and... here we are.”

“ _Wow_. He didn’t even ask you about the earring, he just went for it. I gotta give it to him; he’s got guts.” San smirked. “So, are you two official? Do the others know?”

“Yes, and no, not yet,” Chan replied, embarrassed. “We haven’t told them in like an announcement but I’m pretty sure they know already. They gossip like old ladies at Church and had a betting pool going.”

San snickered as Chan finally led him into an antique bookstore, with plenty of old covers that were kept for craft reasons. A lovely old woman who seemed to know Chan by name staffed it, and when they came over to greet her, she pinched Chan’s cheeks and interrogated him as to whether or not he was sleeping well and eating enough. As soon as the old woman heard what San was looking for, her eyes lit up and she brought him over (by the hand, which was adorable) to a special little corner of the store. There, in various baskets, were countless old book covers, ranging from the classics to newer titles.

“Pick whatever you need, sweetheart,” the woman said kindly, gently patting San’s cheek. “I’ll make sure you get a very good deal on them.” As she walked away, San was sure he heard her mutter to herself what’s in the water these days if the boys are much handsomer than when she was younger.

Amused, San loosened his scarf and began to dig through the covers while Chan was a few feet away combing through the shelves. It took a fair bit of rummaging before he found the Shakespeare basket, and his search picked up the pace. “Here we go,” he murmured to himself, purple eyes lighting up.

“Did you find something?” Chan asked, curiosity getting the better of him as he abandoned whatever he was looking for and coming over. San mumbled something in reply and held up an emerald green cover of _Macbeth_. “Oh, the infamous Scottish play, huh?”

“When I was… when I was pretending to be a student, I basically followed Wooyoung around to his classes, saying that we were in the same program. One time, we had to memorize soliloquies and he’d chosen the famous one from _Macbeth_ , and I’d chosen the one from _Hamlet_ \- it was the only one I kind of knew - and it’s…” He smiled, turning his head to Chan. “It’s one of my favourite memories.”

Chan smiled. “That’s cute. Are you two doing anything for his birthday?”

“Just a dinner with his parents in a few days – pray for me, Chan, _pray for me_ – and next week on his actual birthday we’re… oh! That’s right.” San looked up from his search. “He said he made reservations at _God’s Menu_ for the restaurant section for our friends on the 26th. Can you give Seonghwa-hyung a head’s up? He might not want to be working that night; I don’t think he wants anybody to know where he’s working yet. He’s still nervous about… well, everything.”

While San hadn’t told Chan anything specific about what happened to Seonghwa, he knew Chan figured out the important part: Seonghwa was hesitant to let people know what he was and where he was frequenting.

Chan’s eyebrows raised briefly, before a small mile creased his lips. “Yeah, of course. – He’s a natural at the Bar, you know; stealing customers away from everyone.”

San laughed, dimples dotting his cheeks. “He says he doesn’t have any charm, but I think he’s full of it. I sat in on him doing a presentation once and everybody was eating out of his hand in _seconds_. Plus…” He looked back down at the mess of antique covers, “I think it gives him something he can control, get him used to trusting people again since he’s the one initiating contact.”

Sitting down on a little stool, Chan nodded as he tugged a basket over and into his lap. “I’ve sensed as much,” he admitted. “It’s why I put the ball in his court if he wanted anyone to know he was a were-cat. I would have asked regardless, but I figured it was even more warranted in this case.” His yellow and blue eyes flicked up from the covers, catching San’s gaze. “Does he need help finding a place to stay?”

“Eventually, probably,” San confirmed, his eyes narrowing as he thought he saw a cover for _Hamlet_ buried underneath a startling amount of _Jane Austen_ covers. “But he’s staying with Hongjoong-hyung.” San smirked. “I’m curious to see if they finally stop dancing around each other and get together; the group’s got a running bet on how long it takes.”

“That’s not very nice,” Chan chided, chuckling as he handed over a sapphire blue cover of _Hamlet_.

“Thanks.” San gently waved a hand. “We’re not betting money, just who has to buy drinks at the next outing. If you’re curious, I think it’s going to happen around Christmas; Seonghwa-hyung’s not going to be able to move out until a couple months after then if I have my calculations right.”

“Your _calculations?_ ” Chan huffed out a laugh.

“Based on his earnings at the club and that he’ll probably get his own phone first, plus he’s been talking about helping with rent on Hongjoong’s place, and there’s also school fees so that’s a huge chunk right there. It’ll take a while for him to build up enough of a steady income to create a deep enough savings pool move out,” San explained as he found a couple more covers that would be helpful, gently dropping them into a pile. “Plus, law school. But to circle back, I think it’ll happen around Christmas holidays; they don’t have family obligations to attend to. They’ll be spending a lot of time together at the apartment with winter break.”

Chan hummed thoughtfully as he bent down and picked up the covers, setting his own basket down on its table. He straightened out the pile and held them in his lap. “You seem to have everyone else’s lives figured out except your own, mm?”

San choked on air and furrowed his brows, lips forming a perfect pout. “Did you come along just so you could call me out like that?”

“That, and we haven’t talked in a while,” Chan admitted as he pushed himself to his feet. “I’m looking forward to meeting your soulmate next week.” He handed the pile of covers over to San. “Good luck with your project.”

“Thank you,” San said, bowing. “I really owe you… you and Felix both.”

Chan shook his head as they walked towards the front counter. “Nonsense; we Black Cats stick together and we help each other out.”Once San had paid for the covers, they exited the shop and Chan placed a hand on San’s shoulder. “I’ll see you later.”

“Later, hyung,” San said, bowing again as they parted ways, with San making a beeline for his apartment. One of the redeeming qualities of not being a university student was that he had a mostly free day every day. As he entered his little apartment and got his supplies out and organized, San’s shoulders slumped as he exhaled.

He could do this.

~ * ~

He could _not_ do this.

Dinner with Wooyoung’s parents was equally terrifying and exhilarating as it was a constant test of how far he could get with his half answers and what they’d actually accept. They were seated at what was one of the best seats in the house at _Moon_ , and San was dressed in a suit he did not own and cost more than the rent in his apartment for a month. Wooyoung sat beside him, gently holding his hand as he continued to get grilled by Wooyoung’s parents.

“Oh, hello, hello!” a cheerful voice interrupted, and San didn’t know whether to count his blessings or die of embarrassment as Kim Seokjin appeared, flashing a charming smile to the entire table. “Sannie! What brings you here tonight?”

“Evening, Seokjin-hyung,” San greeted, bowing. “It’s Wooyoung’s birthday next week and as his parents are out of town then, we’re having his birthday dinner tonight.” He smiled.

Seokjin blinked and smacked him hard on the shoulder. “Yah! Why didn’t you tell me? I’m going to make sure he gets a slice of the exquisite cake we have on tonight.”

San rubbed his shoulder. “You always told us not to give out birthday cake if it’s not actually their birthday!” he protested.

“It’s different when it’s _my staff_ ,” Seokjin huffed.

“Pretty sure it isn’t…”

Seokjin lightly pinched his cheek and smiled brilliantly as he leaned in. “What was that, Sannie? It sounds like you want to come and help me bring out the cake? And sing Happy Birthday to your handsome soulmate?”

San’s eyes widened. “That’s—”

“That’s exactly what he said!” Wooyoung interrupted suddenly, pushing San out of his seat. “You never told me you could sing, San.” He smiled brilliantly – perhaps a bit wider than was necessary when he saw San’s eyes narrow.

“Voice of an Angel, this one,” Seokjin said, ignoring the side-eye that San was giving his soulmate. “One moment~”

“Is this some kind of punishment for not working here full time?” San mumbled as he was handed a beautifully patterned plate with an incredibly delectable cake slice placed neatly in the centre. Seokjin didn’t respond, instead using high grade chocolate and fruit compote to decorate the area around the slice.

Seokjin nodded once, pleased with his work. “Sometimes the best gift is one from the heart, a memory that they’ll remember on a cold night,” was all he said before ushering San back to the table with a strong push.

San blinked, but had no time to question that sudden profound tidbit of wisdom as he found himself standing in front of the table where Wooyoung and his parents sat. He exhaled softly and held the plate firmly, using a bit of his magic to light the candle with a wisp of blackish green fire. His handsome features were illuminated and bathed in a soft orangey red glow as he began to sing a variation on the standard happy birthday song, his clear and beautiful voice carrying easily throughout the restaurant. As the song reached its end, San placed the plate down in front of Wooyoung, whispering a soft ‘I love you’ just loud enough for him to hear.

“Make a wish,” San said softly, his fingers lightly trailing along Wooyoung’s soulmate earring before he straightened up, one hand behind his back in a perfect waiter pose.

Wooyoung looked up at him, no doubt thinking back to the spring when they were here last, when it was his ex’s birthday. A smile broke out on his lips and he nodded, wordlessly leaning over and blowing out the candle with one huff of air. “Thank you, Sannie,” he said, gesturing for San to join them at the table.

“Anything for you,” San replied, not realizing what he’d said until the words were out of his mouth. He turned red once realization hit, and was easy pickings for Wooyoung to feed him a forkful of cake.

The rest of the night mercifully passed without much incident, and soon the pair found themselves back at Wooyoung’s dorm once they’d bid his parents a good night. His parents had given him a custom Rolex Sky-Dweller, the detailing redone to be more in line with colours that suited Wooyoung – vibrant and elegant. If San was anxious about giving Wooyoung his gift before, he now was ready to throw it out the window. He hadn’t, surprisingly, by the time they reached Wooyoung’s single dorm.

He grunted as Wooyoung pushed him back on the bed and held up a hand. “Wait a second. I need to give you your present.”

“You’re about to give it to me right now,” Wooyoung pouted, but he sat back on his heels. “But all right.” He settled down and sat cross-legged, his faux put-upon expression gone and replaced with one of curiosity.

San slowly pushed himself to a sitting position, and reached over to his bag. “…it’s… I hope you like it, Woo. Happy Birthday.” He held out the simple gift box, his heart beating out of his chest. There was no going back now; either Wooyoung would love it, or he would take pity on San and say he did.

Maybe this was a mistake.

Carefully, Wooyoung took the box from him, leaning forward to kiss San’s cheek. “I’ll love it, I know I will,” he assured. He chewed on his bottom lip, a subconscious habit, as he carefully punctured the tape that fastened the lid of the box down. Despite being a whirling dervish of energy and a gremlin at the best of times, Wooyoung took his time opening the box and shifting aside the black and purple tissue paper. “Oh! Is this…?”

“It’s a book sleeve,” San explained, cheeks heating up with embarrassment as Wooyoung turned the sleeve back and forth to get a good look at it. The front of the sleeve had the cover of _Hamlet_ , while the back had _Macbeth_ ; San had used cloth to join the back and the front together, as well as create a bottom with some give. Thick golden ‘rope’ bound it together to give it some rustic, antique flair, and the flap had a crown detail that he cut out of a copy of _King Lear_ to mirror the crown on their matching bracelets. “I know you like lugging a book around with you everywhere and I know a bunch are rare and some are softcover and—”

The Black Cat didn’t have a chance to explain further as he suddenly found himself with an armful of Jung Wooyoung and the recipient of a very heated kiss. The sleeve was haphazardly tossed back into the box and off to the side, Wooyoung moving into his soulmate’s lap. “I love it,” he whispered, cupping San’s cheeks in his hands. “Where did you find it?”

“I made it,” San admitted shyly. “I asked a friend who liked antique books to show me a place and I made it from some book covers…” His shoulders hunched up and he looked away, heat rising to his ears, hidden by his layered, shoulder length hair. San worried at his lip ring with his tongue, surprised when he found himself flat on his back, with Wooyoung staring down at him and straddled on his hips, caged in with Wooyoung’s strong thighs.

“You _made_ it?” Wooyoung whispered in awe, leaning down to steal another slow kiss, making sure to take his time to taste the other were-cat. “San, that’s… what the fuck, how can you make something so perfect?”

San blinked and put his hands in front of his face, a soft whine escaping through his tattooed fingers. “I was so afraid you weren’t going to like it,” he mumbled, the sound muffled by his hands, “Seonghwa-hyung and Chan-hyung were about ready to throw me into the Han river.” They weren’t, but San knew that he’d been whining to them a lot.

“That I wasn’t…? San!” Wooyoung admonished, tugging the Black Cat’s hands down from his face. “I love it. And…” He smiled shyly - such a change from his usual boisterous personality. “Um, there’s… something else. I want to ask you for. On my birthday. You can’t say no. — You can, of course, I was just…” He turned red, ducking his head.

San’s eyes widened as the blush on his cheeks darkened. “Wooyoung…” he reached up to touch Wooyoung’s right cheek, his silver rings cool to the touch of his soulmate’s reddening cheek. He smiled warmly at the younger man before it shifted into a sensual smirk. “So. I believe I heard that I owe you _another_ birthday present? Tell me - what does the birthday boy want?”

At that, Wooyoung’s expression shifted to one that was very shy, and he ducked his head. His blond hair was getting longer, almost chin length and it was beginning to curl naturally, as if caressed by the waves and kissed by the sun. San loved to thread his fingers through Wooyoung’s hair, and had to stop himself most of the time as his soulmate got embarrassed after a while of how much he enjoyed it. Other times, however, he _demanded_ it. Wooyoung fisted at the crisp, white button down shirt of San’s suit, the jacket still on and enveloping the other boy beautifully.

“I… want you to fuck me,” Wooyoung said softly, trailing his fingers up San’s chest. “And I want you to do it while you’re wearing this suit.”

San’s eyes widened and he swallowed slightly. “Is that so…? You want me to fuck you with this suit on… and what about you?”

To his surprise, Wooyoung shook his head, his expression now mischievous. “I’m not going to be wearing _anything_ …” He trailed his hand up to the expensive Yves Saint Laurent tie that was loosened around San’s neck. “…except this tie around my wrists.”

The older of the two were-cats felt his soul leave his body as Wooyoung dipped his head, grinding low against San’s hips as he moved down, pressing his lips to the flushed skin of San’s neck. One of the things Wooyoung loved the most about San’s tattoos were that because so many of them were done with black ink, love bites were harder to find. “Fuck,” San breathed, arching his back up off the mattress, “Wooyoung…”

“Mm, _fuck_ , I love hearing you like this,” Wooyoung murmured against San’s tattooed neck, his tongue darting out to lick a long stripe along one of his favourite tattoos on San - a gothic, Tim Burton style depiction of Jack the Ripper, with a raven reflected in the famous killer’s scalpel. “You’ll let me fuck you one of these days, right?”

San choked on air, resting his hands on Wooyoung’s shoulders. “I’d let you fuck me right now, if you wanted.”

Wooyoung hummed, clearly weighing the options. “Another time. I want you to make sure I don’t walk tomorrow.”

“Don’t you have class tomorrow?”

“I don’t want to go.”

“Model student,” San said with a smirk, watching as his gorgeous soulmate stripped himself bare, his clothes tossed carelessly to the wayside. While Wooyoung wasn’t as toned as San, the Black Cat loved how soft the other were-cat’s skin was, how his frame was wiry but strong. “This suit’s going to get ruined.”

Wooyoung licked his lips as he finally got up off San’s lap and got rid of his pants and boxers, the expensive fabric hitting the ground carelessly. “I know a good dry cleaner,” he replied breathlessly, biting his lip as San’s ring adorned fingers slid up his sides, the cold metal sending shivers up his spine. “They don’t ask a lot of questions.”

San grinned. “Pays to have a baby sugar daddy.” He made a wounded noise as Wooyoung punched him in the shoulder. “Sorry, sorry. Come here.” San snaked a hand behind Wooyoung’s neck, bringing him down for a deep kiss. The pout washed away from his soulmate’s lips and was replaced by them parting, wanting more. “You know I don’t think about you that way, right?”

“I know,” Wooyoung confirmed softly, swallowing. “I’m just… I get scared, you know? It can be so perfect that I’m afraid that I’ll mess it up somehow.”

San blinked, his own lips parting in surprise. As much as he’d been panicking the last two and a half weeks about their fledgling relationship, it didn’t occur to him that Wooyoung was also in the same place of crippling uncertainty - _especially_ considering how his last relationship ended. Carefully, San pushed himself up to a sitting position, cradling his Bengal were-cat boyfriend in his lap. “Me too,” San found himself admitting, resting his forehead against Wooyoung’s, tattooed fingers lightly touching Wooyoung’s soulmate earring. “I don’t want you to … feel pressured, just because fate said we’re soulmates. Okay? Talk… talk to me. And I’ll … I’ll talk to you too. It’s in _our_ hands.”

A bright smile came to Wooyoung’s lips and he pulled the older were-cat into a deep kiss. “Deal,” he said gently against San’s mouth, though the soft moment quickly passed when Wooyoung’s tongue licked at San’s lip ring. “But I don’t want you to talk right now. I want you to fuck me.”

“So _demanding_ ,” San murmured, smiling as he shifted, leaning forward to suck Wooyoung’s soulmate earring into his mouth, curling his tongue around the piercing. He could hear the other were-cat suck in a shaky breath, his grip tightening. “But it’s your birthday and I did say I’d give you anything…” They could take their time now, and there wasn’t the threat of reality crashing down on them the next day, like it had been for their first time together.

San thoroughly enjoyed this part, getting to undress his partner - it was even better now because it was Wooyoung - and make them hot and undone just from his touches alone. This time was no different, heightened from the emotional intimacy they’d just shared. San’s long fingers easily stripped Wooyoung bare, his lips kissing and biting at every available surface, knowing that with the cold weather that the Bengal were-cat would be bundled right up. Something possessive and carnal awoke in him when he sucked a particularly bright mark into Wooyoung’s right thigh and he heard the younger man’s whine.

“San, _please_ ,” he pleaded, eyes fluttering shut as he was placed on his back on the dorm bed. “You’re such a _tease_.”

The sulky protest died in Wooyoung’s throat as he opened his eyes and saw Choi San, dressed in a bespoke Dior suit, gripping at his YSL tie and pulling it loose while sitting back on his heels. His long black hair was mussed from Wooyoung’s hands running through it, his lips swollen from their kisses and his cheeks flushed. Purple eyes pierced the darkness of his dorm room, and with otherworldly grace, San captured Wooyoung’s lips in another kiss as he tied his soulmate’s wrists together with the expensive tie.

“Be a good boy for me?” San asked, his voice sultry and soft. “Just lie back and enjoy your present, mm? I need to get you good and ready if I’m going to ruin you.”

“ _Please_ ,” Wooyoung begged, annoyed at himself for giving in so quickly. He’d had such a _plan_ to be stubborn and obstinate, get San just as riled up as he felt. Instead, he’d let himself get carried away by San’s skillful hands, feeling each and every brush of his fingers like he’d been shocked by electricity. He knew he was weak to San in a suit, especially one that fit him like a glove, but he hadn’t been prepared for how much the reality of San fucking him in a suit would be his undoing. Especially when he paused to rake a ring adorned hand through his hair, his silver jewellery glinting in the moonlight.

Rest in Pieces, Jung Wooyoung.

San, damn him, took his time preparing his soulmate, his fingers skilled and his patience seemingly infinite. He somehow ignored Wooyoung’s breathless pleas, instead finding new ways to get the younger were-cat’s voice to go higher in pitch. “I think you’re about ready,” San murmured, the five words being music to Wooyoung’s ears. He was beginning to get dizzy with anticipation, driven wild by the light sheen of sweat that slid down San’s neck. The suit was restrictive, and as he began to get hot, clung to him like it was a part of him.

“I’ve _been_ ready,” Wooyoung spat, but there was no venom in his words; he was too desperate and he knew San knew it.

San smirked slightly and leaned down, pressing his hand down against the bound wrists of the Bengal were-cat, tilting his head coquettishly. “Are you really in a position to be fighting me? Let me remind you that you wanted, and I quote, ‘fuck you while I’m wearing this suit’ so you can quote ‘not walk tomorrow’.”

“San!” He squeezed his eyes shut, feeling a slicked up finger lightly slide along his painfully hard length. The feel of the metal of San’s rings spurred him on further and he gasped. “Please, please, I can’t, just…!”

“Shh,” San whispered, placing a dry finger to Wooyoung’s lips. “Deep breaths, birthday boy. You’re going to need your voice for later.” He gave a nip to Wooyoung’s neck, right at the juncture where a were-cat’s mate could mark up and touch, biting down teasingly. The effect was immediate - Wooyoung moaned and writhed against the sheets, bunching them up around him. He got a deep inhale of San’s cologne - all spices and citrus, and Wooyoung felt his eyes roll back into his head.

He was so deep into revelling in San’s scent that he nearly got caught by surprise when the Black Cat entered him slowly and deeply. It was clear that San’s interpretation of ‘fuck me so hard that I can’t walk’ was to start off with driving Wooyoung insane with a slow pace and make him lose control. This was equal parts the best and worst idea he’d ever had. But despite all his teasing, there was nothing but care and love in each touch from the Black Cat. None of Wooyoung’s prior relationships had this level of intensity, and it wasn’t for lack of trying on his part - or his partner’s. Nothing just ever felt _right_.

Until now.

A gasp escaped him as San fastened his mouth to Wooyoung’s neck, sucking a deep bruise to his soulmate’s tanned skin. His hips moved in a sinfully slow rhythm, like the ebb and flow of the sea at night. One hand was curled around Wooyoung’s wrists, the other gripping his hip so tightly that the Bengal were-cat knew there would be bruises the next day. Belatedly, he realized that San was whispering elegant filth into his ear, his breath heavy and hot. Wooyoung crumpled in San’s arms, having fallen prey to a sensory trigger he didn’t know he had.

Even when he’d come once, San continued his brutally slow pace, keeping Wooyoung pinned to the bed. He checked in with soft kisses to Wooyoung’s ear, always making sure that he was all right. Affection swelled in the younger man’s chest, and though his mind was pleasure-addled and hazy, he knew he could trust the other man. “I…I love you,” he breathed, a trembling moan escaping his lips as San sucked a dark love bite into the skin right where a mate would mark him, the danger of how close he was to mating Wooyoung sending him into a spiral. “I know you already said it, but I … I didn’t say it back properly and I … I wanna say it now.”

San stilled, and for a brief moment the hands around Wooyoung’s bound wrists tightened. “Fuck,” he cursed lowly against the flushed skin of the younger’s neck, “do you have any idea what you _do_ to me, Wooyoung?” He pulled back enough to catch Wooyoung’s eyes, the Black Cat’s purple eyes almost glowing in the muted darkness, the only light save for streaks of moonlight through the haphazardly closed curtains. “I’ve loved you for so long,” he whispered, trembling fingers untying the restraints around Wooyoung’s wrists, “I almost said it so many times, and now that I have you, I just…”

If Wooyoung was overwhelmed by the sudden rush of emotions on what was supposed to be a kinky, fun night, he was absolutely shattered by the fact that San untied him only to grasp both his hands. San’s pace slowed to something so intimate that when realization struck that this wasn’t just birthday sex but something more akin to _making love_ , Wooyoung’s heart threatened to burst. He squeezed San’s hands back as he began to move with him in time with his thrusts, living for the choked moans that San pressed against his skin, almost tattooing them to Wooyoung’s neck. The loud creak of his mattress was drowned out by their twin moans, breaking into gasps and whispered curses mixed in with frenzied declarations of love.

When he’d think about it later, he wasn’t sure which one of them came first, all Wooyoung could remember was San pressed tight against him, suit completely rumpled and drenched in the Black Cat’s sweat. The air was thick with the smell of sex, with the sounds of their struggling breaths, and belatedly, Wooyoung realized that they hadn’t kept their voices down at all.

“Happy Birthday,” San whispered, his dangling earrings lightly dancing along Wooyoung’s flushed skin. “I love you, Jung Wooyoung.”

Wooyoung smiled, tilting his head to capture his soulmate’s mouth in a kiss. They were awkward, they were stupid, and they were loud. But … together, they were everything he didn’t know he wanted. “I love you too, Choi San.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For Wooyoung's birthday dinner, the gang gets suited up and meets up at God's Menu. When their waiter and host is revealed to be Seonghwa, Hongjoong gets a bit bold ... and so does Seonghwa.

If there was ever a time that Hongjoong was relieved he had no shame in asking for a suit from Kim Seokjin, it was when he entered _God’s Menu_ with his friends, every single one of them in a sharp suit at Wooyoung’s request. Despite being financially strapped University students, they collectively knew the importance of having at least one good suit. And it proved to be a good call by Wooyoung, as everyone inside of _God’s Menu_ was dressed stylishly and looked like a collection of runway models.

Hongjoong looked around curiously, seeing that the restaurant was also a Host Bar - something that Yunho and Yeosang were relentlessly teasing Wooyoung about as they entered. Hongjoong tugged at the collar of his shirt, adjusting his tie; he had to give it to Kim Seokjin, his suits were immaculate and made Hongjoong look _professional_. He’d even put a bit of work into his hair, styling it to the point of perfection and added some eclectic pieces of jewelry.

So maybe he was hoping to surprise Seonghwa, sue him.

Seonghwa.

He looked down at his phone, remembering how surprised he was when Seonghwa returned it to him last week, saying that he’d finally made enough money to get his own. They’d been missing each other like two ships in the night recently, between Hongjoong’s increasingly wonky schedule and Seonghwa’s time being entirely taken up by both school and working nights, they’d barely spoken to each other. He’d taken to sending text messages or leaving notes around the apartment, and he’d gotten a few in return that he kept folded in his notebooks.

A frown creased his lips as he’d gotten radio silence from Seonghwa about whether or not he’d be able to make Wooyoung’s birthday dinner. He’d been sure that at least San had told him about it, but when he’d asked the others if they’d heard from Seonghwa, they shrugged their shoulders. While he didn’t show it and that he knew why Seonghwa wouldn’t be able to show up, Hongjoong knew that Wooyoung was a bit disappointed not to see the eldest when they all met up outside the restaurant.

A handsome man dressed in black greeted them in the main foyer of the Restaurant, his yellow and blue eyes bright and his lips a faint, tinted red. Hongjoong could see tattoos on the backs of his hands, and peeking out from the unbuttoned collar of his shirt. Silver earrings lined his ears, and he had the brightest smile that Hongjoong had ever seen outside of his friend group. Slowly, Hongjoong realized he remembered the man - he had helped on a track with two of the man's friends, alongside Yoongi and Namjoon a couple of years ago. “Welcome to _God’s Menu_ , I’m Chan; I’m the Owner and one of the Hosts. I hear we’re celebrating a birthday tonight?”

In a move to get payback for what happened at dinner with his soulmate’s parents, San grinned and placed his hands on Wooyoung’s shoulders, pushing him forward. “The Birthday Boy is right here, Chan-hyung.”

Wooyoung’s head whipped to the side to stare at San. “ _Hyung?_ ” he echoed in disbelief.

“Do you know _everyone?_ ” Jongho asked in disbelief. “Do you work here, too?”

“I used to,” San admitted. “Back when Chan-hyung first opened the Bar.” 

Yeosang rolled his eyes. “Why am I not surprised? Next you’re going to tell me that you also worked as a model with Kim Taehyung.”

Chan laughed and shook his head. “A lively bunch tonight! Please, your table is over here. Your waiter and Host will be right with you.” He led them to one of their larger tables, comfortably seating eight, so it left one of the chairs empty - presumably for their host and waiter. “Please enjoy your time here at _God’s Menu!_ ”

Yunho let out a low whistle as he looked around, the sleek bar and restaurant brimming with hot, young clientele. “How’d you hear about this place, Woo?”

“A friend of mine came here a while ago and was raving about it,” Wooyoung explained, adjusting his suit jacket. “Though I’m beginning to wonder if she was talking about the hosts and not the food.”

San laughed. “The food is really good.” He turned to Hongjoong and smirked. “You clean up well, hyung. I could hardly recognize you.”

Mingi snickered. “You look like a bad boy exec in a K-Drama than a University student, hyung. Maybe you can finesse your way into high society by being the sugar baby to a rich noona.”

“You joke, but that sounds amazing,” Yeosang said, leaning back in his seat. “I wouldn’t mind being a kept man.”

Yunho snorted. “Better take good care of your looks, then.”

“Spoken like a true 6/10,” Yeosang shot back with a smirk. 

Hongjoong huffed and glanced away, tongue absently running along his bottom lip. “It’s been a while since I’ve been out with everyone, I wanted to dress up a little.”

Yunho leaned in, a shit-eating grin on his lips. “Hoping to impress a certain someone?”

Turning to fix his friend with a glare, Hongjoong’s eyes narrowed. “Hey, have you told Mingi how you feel —”

“Welcome to _God’s Menu_ ,” a soft voice interrupted, and Hongjoong’s head snapped over towards it at lightning speed. “My name is Seonghwa and I will be your host and waiter tonight.”

Hongjoong’s jaw dropped to the floor. Standing to the side opposite to his end of the table by the empty seat was Seonghwa, dressed in a stylish navy blue suit. His silvery blond hair was swept to the side, exposing his forehead and showing off a beautifully sharp undercut. His icy blue eyes were accented by a skillfully applied smoky eye look, and his lips were sheen with gloss. “Hwa?” he croaked.

In response, Seonghwa affixed him with an ethereal smile as he bowed, one arm bent in front of his abdomen, the other bent and pressed to his lower back. “At your service.”

“Oh this is going to be _amazing_ ,” Wooyoung whispered, though it was more of a loud stage whisper than anything else. He turned to San and leaned in, his lips tickling his boyfriend’s ear. “Did you know he worked here?”

San nodded. “I put him in touch with Chan-hyung when he was looking for a job. Seonghwa-hyung asked me not to tell anyone until he was ready to. Sorry for keeping it from you.”

Wooyoung frowned thinly, but nodded. “He has a good reason to want to keep it secret,” he agreed quietly. A mischievous grin came to his lips, and he leaned in a bit more, to ensure that no one else heard him. “Wanna make a bet to see how long Hongjoong-hyung lasts?”

“I think he’ll last the whole night,” San replied easily, glancing over to where Hongjoong’s slack-jawed expression was changed by one more schooled, almost eager. “The real wild card is Seonghwa-hyung.”

His boyfriend’s eyes widened, his lips parting with surprise as he hadn’t realized that at all. He grinned and tugged on San’s sleeve, grinning like a maniac. “I would’ve thought that Seonghwa-hyung wouldn’t have wanted anybody to know that he was working here, let alone be our host. Why do you think he’s doing this?”

“It’s obvious,” San replied, gently inclining his head towards Hongjoong, where the two eldest of their group hadn’t stopped staring at one another in a silent contest. The challenge between them was clear even without words being spoken - whomever blinked first would lose.

To everyone’s surprise, Hongjoong pushed himself out of his seat smoothly and straightened out his suit. The eager tension in the air is palpable as the group of six watch with rapt attention, wordless bets flying between them with nothing more than quick glances and wide grins. He adjusted his glasses, as he moved out from behind his spot at the table, breaking away from Seonghwa’s gaze first. He pulled out the empty chair, bowing slightly as a roguish grin creased his lips.

“Have a seat,” Hongjoong offered softly, raising his head to catch Seonghwa’s gaze again.

Seonghwa arched a fine eyebrow, a small smile tugging at his lips. “Which one of us is the Host?”

At that, Hongjoong merely widened his smile and gave a wink. “There’s no rule that says Hosts can’t be pampered too.” He gestured with his hand to the chair, his other hand still resting its back. Faintly, in the background, Mingi’s impressed low whistle was heard before someone (possibly Yeosang) elbowed him sharply in the gut.

Very briefly Seonghwa’s tinted lips parted, and he ran his tongue along the bottom lip as they curled into a faint smirk. His eyes held Hongjoong’s, very aware of how the younger man was watching the movement of his tongue. “Thank you,” he said finally, sliding into the seat and pulling it in. He watched with icy blue eyes as Hongjoong made his way back over to his own seat, leaning back with a swagger he didn’t have before. Seonghwa let out a tiny huff of a laugh; tonight was going to be interesting. He turned his attention to Wooyoung and smiled. “Happy Birthday. I’m sorry for not responding to the messages, but I wanted this to be a surprise.”

“Mission accomplished!” Wooyoung replied with a laugh. “How long have you been working here?”

“A couple of weeks,” Seonghwa answered lightly, smiling. “I didn’t think that I would be working at a Host Bar, but it’s been a lot of fun.” He glanced over at Hongjoong. “I’m sorry for not mentioning it to you.”

Hongjoong shook his head. “It’s fine; you have your reasons. I’m just glad that it’s been going well. This explains why I haven’t been seeing you at all lately back at the apartment.”

Mingi’s eyebrows furrowed. “Back at the apartment?”

“Ah, sorry,” Hongjoong apologized, rubbing his neck, his wrist brushing against the litany of uniquely designed earrings that were fastened to the outer shell of his right ear. “I didn’t mean to blow it, Hwa.”

Seonghwa shook his head. “It’s fine, I was planning on telling everyone anyway. It’s part of the reason why I told Chan-hyung why I wanted to take care of this appointment tonight.” He smiled faintly. “But why don’t we get some drinks first? We’re here to celebrate Wooyoung’s birthday after all.”

San clapped Wooyoung on the back. “I’ll be taking one for team and taking birthday boy here home so just light drinks for me.” He grinned, his lip ring glinting in the soft lighting of the restaurant. “I’ve got the wheelbarrow ready if you get wasted.”

“I’m not going to get _wasted_ ,” Wooyoung whined, but it lasted for all about thirty seconds before he burst out laughing. “And you promised you’d carry me.”

“I would pay to see San lift you,” Yeosang snickered as he flipped through the drink menu, his snicker getting louder and devolving into a laugh when San casually flipped him off with a ring adorned, tattooed finger.

With the initial drink and appetizer orders entered by Seonghwa via a slim tablet, the conversation began to flow a bit more naturally with the eldest of the group guiding it expertly. It had been a particularly rough week for everyone, and being able to be together all at once celebrating a birthday was the perfect antidote for the stress of upcoming final assignments and preparing for final exams.

“Hyung,” Jongho started, shifting in his seat and looking around the table as if trying to gauge if he should bring up what he was going to at all. “You don’t have to answer this if you don’t want to, but… did something happen? You said earlier you’re staying with _Hongjoong-hyung?_ ”

To Jongho and the others’ surprise, Seonghwa didn’t seem upset, but rather, was taking the question in stride, like he expected it. “This stays between us,” Seonghwa started softly, for once grateful that the music was mixed well enough that it helped mask their conversation for the rest of the restaurant.

At that, Mingi, Jongho, Yunho and Yeosang straightened up and nodded, leaning in so they could hear better. “Yeah, of course!” Mingi assured, nodding seriously. “We won’t tell anybody, hyung.”

Seonghwa smiled gratefully. “Thank you, all of you.” He sighed heavily and tried to figure out how best to start what was still a very fresh, very sore subject. “To put it simply, it seems like my parents were in a tougher financial situation than they let on… it’d gotten bad enough that they made arrangements to sell me in an auction in order to ease the burden of their debt.”

Shock, horror and concern rippled through the table, but surprisingly, Mingi, Yunho, Yeosang and Jongho didn’t exclaim loudly. Quickly, however, Yeosang noticed that Wooyoung, San and Hongjoong hadn’t reacted at all. “Wait, did you three know?”

“San and I were at the party where the auction was happening,” Wooyoung explained, frowning. “It was being held by friends of my parents, and after dinner they just brought everyone down to this large basement where we had to sign waivers and stuff. When we saw that hyung was up there, we decided to do something to get him out of there.”

The Black Cat sitting beside him nodded, his purple-hued gaze catching Hongjoong’s hand overtop of Seonghwa’s for the briefest of moments before he brought his attention back to the others. “Wooyoung created a distraction and I got Seonghwa-hyung off the stage and out of there. We ran into Hongjoong-hyung out in the streets and we took Seonghwa-hyung back to his place.”

“For obvious reasons Hwa couldn’t go back to his parents house, San’s apartment is too small and Woo lives in the dorms,” Hongjoong added, now back in a normal sitting position, his fingers no longer interlaced with Seonghwa’s. “Even staying at Wooyoung’s parents place was out, we didn’t know how well they knew about what was going on at the auction. So… I offered up my place.”

Mingi and Yunho exchanged knowing looks, as did Yeosang and Jongho; it seemed like they were all thinking the same thing and Hongjoong did his best to hide the blush that threatened to show up along his tanned cheeks. “So you’ve been living with Hongjoong-hyung this entire time?” Mingi asked slowly, carefully. “Hongjoong-hyung who never once let one of us see his place even when we were drunk off our asses in Itaewon?”

“The same Hongjoong-hyung who gave me a wrong address when I said I’d come by and pick him up for class?” Yunho added, smirking slightly. “Seems like you’re an exception to the rule, Seonghwa-hyung. I wonder why.”

“It’s because there’s definitely a tier system to our friendship and he ranks way higher than you,” Hongjoong countered, sticking out his tongue. “Depending on your actions tonight, you’re going to either slide down a lot or just a peg.”

“But you’re doing all right, hyung?” Jongho asked, steering the conversation away from the juicy bit of gossip they’d just learned.

Seonghwa nodded. “It was rough at first… no, it’s still tough to wrap my head around what happened but being able to work and focus on school has helped. I owe San for introducing me to Chan-hyung; this isn’t what I would have seen myself doing to pay the bills, but I’ve been enjoying it quite a lot.”

Wooyoung eyed San. “So you’re telling me that you used to work here as a host?”

“I used to be the No. 1 host here when Chan-hyung first opened the bar,” San boasted, practically preening at the admission. 

A young man with shoulder length, layered blond hair pulled into a half ponytail so it could show off his gorgeous earrings leaned over his shoulder, resting his elbow on San’s right trapezius muscle. “For about a week before I knocked you off.”

San’s jaw jutted out as his lips pursed. “Hyunjin,” he greeted with faux sourness. “And you got lucky when you hooked that whale late in the evening.”

“Jealousy looks so good on you,” Hyunjin teased, grinning as he poked San’s cheek. “I came by to check on Seonghwa-hyung, but if I get to rub your nose in your _massive_ loss, it’s a definite bonus.” San swatted at him, missing the tall boy by mere inches as he danced out of the way, making his way over to Seonghwa. “Do you need any help? A table of 7 is a handful.”

Seonghwa shook his head with a smile. “I’m good, but thank you. I’m pretty used to corralling these particular 7 guests.”

Confusion coloured Hyunjin’s beautiful features before realization struck and he grinned. “Ah, so these are your friends? And…” He paused, eyes flitting over to Hongjoong, who raised an eyebrow in response. “It’s a pleasure to meet all of you - I’m Hwang Hyunjin, the No. 1 host here at _God’s Menu_.” In a move to mock San’s earlier preening, Hyunjin flicked his long blond hair over his shoulder.

“More like No. 1 slacker,” Seungmin muttered as he tugged on Hyunjin’s ponytail. “Come on, we’ve got that bachelorette party of 14 to get back to. I can’t believe you left Jeongin alone with them! They’ll eat him alive.”

Hyunjin snorted. “There’s no way they’re going to eat _him_ alive. I bet when we go back they’re all going to be wrapped around his finger.” He grinned. “Just like I taught him.” He turned to the table of 8 and bowed slightly. “Have a great evening, everyone! Seonghwa-hyung, if you need any help, let us know. We can cycle through and help where needed.”

Seonghwa nodded and chuckled. “I’ll be fine, but understood. Better hurry up before Jeongin ends up with 14 Sugar Mamas. Chan-hyung would have a heart attack.”

There was a long pause as Hyunjin and Seungmin shared a long look and their eyes collectively widened before they gave hurried parting words and _ran_ towards one of the private group rooms in the Host Bar section, nearly running over Jisung in the process. “Do I even want to know what that was about?” Yunho asked, jerking his thumb in the direction that the two other Hosts had run off to.

“It would take too long to explain,” Seonghwa replied, shaking his head ruefully. “— Oh. Wooyoung. I wanted to ask you something. Did San give you your birthday present yet?”

San’s cheeks burned bright red and he put a hand over his face to hide it as Wooyoung’s eyes lit up and he nodded excitedly. “He did! It was a handmade book sleeve; he used the covers from my three favourite Shakespeare plays to make it.”

“That’s so cute, what the fuck,” Mingi commented, eyes wide.

Seonghwa smiled fondly, his heart swelling at the answer. He knew how much San was worrying about making sure that his present for Wooyoung’s birthday was perfect and he was happy to hear that it ended up being exactly that. “That’s wonderful.”

Hongjoong watched quietly as Seonghwa effortlessly guided the conversation to focus on Wooyoung, something the Bengal were-cat had no problems helping with. Wooyoung animatedly told the group what happened at his birthday dinner with his parents, prompting San to try and become one with the floor in embarrassment. If he was honest with himself, he was watching Seonghwa more than he was listening to whatever anybody was saying. The Snow Leopard were-cat was playing a part, but he also was very much _himself_ , with the quiet confidence that he hadn’t had since his parent’s betrayal.

He finally felt safe, Hongjoong realized as he looked down at his drink - a fruity cocktail with a dash of spice named _TA_. Quietly, he plucked out the frilly toothpick out of the drink, absently chewing on the drenched triangle piece of pineapple as his eyes drifted to Seonghwa. The older man was laughing at something Mingi said, his eyes crinkling as he put a hand to cover his mouth. A slight frown creased his lips as he realized that Seonghwa hadn’t looked his way once since their stare-down earlier in the night.

Time to change that. He was feeling bolder as the night progressed, perhaps the alcoholic content in the drinks was beginning to help, or maybe seeing how confident and self-assured Seonghwa was now shifted the gauge in his head from ‘wait it out’ to ‘manifest it’.

“I didn’t know you could sing, Sannie,” he said, breaking up the conversation; he had barely spoken for most of the night, so his voice easily cut through everyone else’s. “Mind if I borrow you for a little bit next week? I could use some vocals on my final track project.”

San blinked, and rubbed the back of his neck shyly. “Me? I don’t want to bring your mark down.”

“You wouldn’t,” Hongjoong countered calmly, toothpick hanging out the corner of his mouth, “if you feel really uncomfortable about doing it, I’ll drop it but it’d really just be a couple of afternoons, maybe less if you nail it. Can’t hurt to try.”

San looked hesitant, fiddling with a charm that hung off the stem of his glass. “I don’t know, hyung; I’m not very good and I don’t have any training. Maybe—”

“— If you need a vocalist, I can help,” Seonghwa offered.

The air stilled as the other six men’s eyes widened and they all collectively forgot to breathe. They exchanged shocked looks with each other, leaning in and whispering conspiratorially and checking in to see if they were all having a collective hallucination or if this was really happening. Seonghwa had been singing in choirs and the like since he was a small child, stopping only when he started going to University, deciding that he wanted to become a lawyer and keep singing as a hobby. If Hongjoong was protective of his personal space, Seonghwa was protective of when he sang and _who_ heard him.

Hongjoong must have come to the same realization the others did, as surprise clearly etched itself on his handsome features. Something soon shifted in his expression, however, and his eyes got a bit of a devious glint in them. His lips curled into a thin smile, the frilly toothpick that hung between his lips wobbling slightly as he chewed on the other end. “Oh? Is this going to be a belated birthday present?” Hongjoong asked, raking a ring adorned hand through his shaggy, sapphire blue hair to reveal a sharp undercut. “I get to hear the secret vocals of Park Seonghwa?”

A soft laugh huffed past Seonghwa’s glossy lips, and he shook his head. The air had shifted, and all other distractions fell to the wayside as he raised his eyes to meet Hongjoong’s. “About as secret as _you_ singing to me when you thought I was asleep.”

Wooyoung bit his fist to muffle a scream and buried his face in San’s shoulder. Yeosang and Jongho choked on their drinks while Mingi and Yunho dropped their cutlery in twin bouts of surprise. All six turned and stared at each other in disbelief as they were completely ignored by Hongjoong and Seonghwa, who seemed to be in their own world.

Hongjoong’s mouth slackened, causing the toothpick to fall from his lips. He fought back the furious blush that threatened to give him away and lose this tete-a-tete with the Snow Leopard, instead adopting the confident look he had previously and caught the fallen toothpick before it hit the table. He threaded it in between his fingers with surprising deftness, popping it back between his lips. “I see; so we’re playing it like that, huh?” Hongjoong murmured thoughtfully, as a roguish smirk slowly graced his handsome features.

Seonghwa gently brushed a few stray strands of pale blond hair out of his eyes, using the motion to take a moment and decide how best to respond. He had to remind himself how to breathe, how to take control of this like it was an appointment with one of his customers. This wasn’t just any customer, though; this was someone that Seonghwa wanted to impress - not for his job, but for _himself_. “I’m not playing,” he replied airily. “If you need a vocalist, I can be that for you.”

“I wonder what else you can be,” Hongjoong murmured, his words swallowed up by the long drink he took to polish off his cocktail. He had no reason to look that seductive while finishing up a fruit-infused drink. Whatever occasionally possessed Kim Hongjoong to be such a confident, sinful man, Seonghwa wasn’t sure whether to get holy water or get down on his knees and thank them.

The rest of the evening proceeded in much the same fashion, with Hongjoong and Seonghwa playing a game of seduction chicken, while the others occasionally broke away from their dumbfounded expressions to exchange updates to their bets in hushed tones. Wooyoung had taken care of the bill, prompting a flurry of requests from the friend group if he could be their sugar daddy. Only half of them were serious inquisitions, but San pretended to huff and hugged his soulmate tightly, telling them to find their own.

Each one of them gave Seonghwa a tight hug before they left, something that surprised the Snow Leopard were-cat but brought him an immense amount of joy regardless. Hongjoong was the last one to give him a hug, and Seonghwa’s heart began to beat out of his chest when the other man’s arms came around him - bringing back memories of the first time they shared the flimsy mattress in Hongjoong’s apartment. “I’m glad to see you’re doing better,” Hongjoong said softly. “I’ll wait for you outside.”

Seonghwa blinked. “We can just meet up at the apartment later.”

A soft scoff escaped Hongjoong as he shook his head and he released Seonghwa with a wave, leaving the bar. Effortlessly, Hongjoong slid on his jacket and raked a hand through his jewel toned hair. Despite the attractive clientele that frequented _God’s Menu_ , Seonghwa could see that all eyes were on the human as he left the Bar/Restaurant. A flare of jealousy sparked in Seonghwa’s gut, and he agitatedly ran his tongue over his lips, tasting the sticky sweetness of his lip gloss.

The rest of his evening was rather uneventful, and Seonghwa would be lying if he wasn’t a bit distracted as thoughts of Hongjoong’s heavy lidded stare filled his thoughts. By this point he could do an appointment in his sleep, although a particularly chaotic appointment with Jisung and Hyunjin snapped him out of it. By the time that he clocked out just after midnight, Seonghwa was ready to drop.

… Or so he was before he left _God’s Menu_ and saw Hongjoong leaning against the wall beside the door, scrolling idly through his phone. “Hongjoong? I thought I said I’d meet you back at the apartment,” Seonghwa said, pulling his roommate’s attention from his phone.

Hongjoong locked his phone and slipped it into his inside jacket pocket, sliding his hands into his jacket’s outer pockets. “And _I_ said that I was going to wait for you.”

Seonghwa’s heart leapt into his throat and he hurriedly attempted to school his expression. “You don’t have to,” he protested lightly, trying to keep from watching too closely as Hongjoong adjusted his tie. “But… thank you.”

“I haven’t seen you in a while, and after tonight, I wanted to talk with you some more,” Hongjoong admitted as they began to walk in the direction of the nearest subway station. “We’ve been missing each other a lot lately and tonight you were paying more attention to the others than to me. I know it was Wooyoung’s birthday and everything, but _still_.”

Was… was he _sulking?_

The were-cat bit back a smirk, instead settling for a fond smile as he gently shook his head. “If you want my attention to yourself, you should book an appointment,” he replied smoothly, surprised with himself. Where was all this coming from? Maybe it was a byproduct of Hongjoong’s more confident demeanour. Or maybe… Seonghwa was getting tired of being in his own way. “I don’t know if you could afford my rate, though.”

To his surprise, Hongjoong threw his head back and laughed, the huff of air appearing as white smoke from the chilled temperature. “Probably not,” he admitted. “I’m serious, though, it’s good to see you so comfortable; this place must be good for you.”

“It has been,” Seonghwa confirmed. “Everyone is… they were all strays but they found each other. There’s a certain level of camaraderie but also a general feeling of ‘I would die for you but also I’d kill you for stealing the boba I was saving’ that’s very comforting. It reminded me of the others.” He glanced at Hongjoong out of the corner of his eye, and swallowed thinly. “I’ve… missed talking to you too. I’m sorry I kept this from you - that I was working at _God’s Menu_.”

Hongjoong’s brows furrowed and he shook his head. “No, no. Hwa, what? Come on. You have a really good reason for not letting anyone know. I’m not going to be mad about that. I’m mad that you spent the whole night talking to everybody else except for me because I want you to myself, but that? No way. I couldn’t be mad at you for that.” He glanced over his shoulder, and shook his head slightly.

Buried in Hongjoong’s very honest and very sweet answer was a nugget of very surprising information that Seonghwa was very sure that Hongjoong hadn’t intended to let slip. Suddenly very bold, Seonghwa turned his head to look at the younger man. “You want me to yourself?” he asked softly.

Freezing, Hongjoong looked as if his whole life passed before his eyes before he cleared his throat awkwardly. “I meant in the context of the night,” he covered lamely, knowing full well how shit of a liar he was and that Seonghwa wasn’t buying it. “But … tell me something - how come you offered to help me with my final project? You hate singing for other people.”

“It’s not ‘other people’,” Seonghwa replied softly, “it’s you.”

Hongjoong stopped abruptly and looked up the few inches Seonghwa had on him before looking away, seemingly down the other end of the street as a blush coloured his cheeks. “Hwa…”

“Joong, I’m being serious,” Seonghwa continued, gaining courage as he closed the distance between himself and the younger man. “I wouldn’t this offer to just anyone. It’s because it’s you and I know that you wouldn’t be an ass about it. And… if you want me to yourself, you just have to ask.”

Again, Hongjoong’s gaze broke away from his as he heard the faint sound of crunching snow. His brows furrowed and Seonghwa was one step away from throwing the human up against the nearest wall and kissing him breathless. His frustrated thoughts consumed him, and thus he didn’t realize when Hongjoong suddenly grabbed the lapels of Seonghwa’s coat and pulled him backwards towards the nearest wall and capturing his shimmery lips in a hot kiss. It was awkward at first; Seonghwa wasn’t prepared for it and although it had been something he’d been thinking about for the past three years, when it finally happened his brain helpfully short-circuited. He almost couldn’t process that _Kim Hongjoong_ was kissing him, and with such an intensity that he brought to things he was passionate about.

A soft moan tumbled past Hongjoong’s lips and something snapped in Seonghwa, the Snow Leopard pressing the human tight to the wall, one arm tight around his waist and one hand anchored tightly in Hongjoong’s blue hair. He could feel Hongjoong’s hands tighten - one at his waist, and one gripping Seonghwa’s shoulder. Something primal began to swell in the were-cat’s gut, and he pressed impossibly closer, nudging his thigh between Hongjoong’s legs. While he was usually quite careful of his above-average strength, in this moment Seonghwa couldn’t help himself as he shifted Hongjoong into a different, easier position so they could continue to kiss.

When it became apparent that oxygen was more important, Seonghwa broke the kiss and affixed his lips to Hongjoong’s flushed neck, revelling in the hitched breath and barely contained moans. As he glanced up to see Hongjoong’s expression, Seonghwa’s icy blue eyes narrowed as he could see that Hongjoong was looking down the street again, and _not_ at Seonghwa. Well. He had to change that. He licked his lips and ground his thigh up with more intent, snapping Hongjoong’s gaze back to him, a swell of pride and desire rushing through him.

“Hwa,” Hongjoong breathed, fist tightening in the pale blond strands of Seognhwa’s hair. “I think they’re gone…”

Confusion clouded Seonghwa’s features and he tilted his head. “What?”

Hongjoong didn’t respond right away, leaning his head back and lightly hitting it against the brick wall of the building they were plastered up against. “We were being followed,” he explained softly, still holding Seonghwa close.

Everything came crashing down in that moment and any warmth Seonghwa had in his body evaporated and he felt as cold as the snow that surrounded them. “Followed?” he echoed hoarsely in disbelief, involuntary beginning to tremble. He had been so careful; he had taken every precaution and done everything he’d been taught to shake off unwanted followers. For a while, he even had a security guard from _God’s Menu_ escort him home when he felt particularly anxious. But that had been within the first week, and he’d hoped it was behind him.

Hongjoong’s bare hands cupped his cheeks and he pressed his forehead to Seonghwa’s. “Stay with me,” he whispered. “You’re safe, Hwa. I won’t let anything happen to you. Okay? Match my breathing. That’s it… in, out… perfect. You’re doing great, Seonghwa…”

Seonghwa exhaled shakily, squeezing his eyes shut and trying his best to concentrate and match Hongjoong’s quiet breaths, the air dancing along his wind-bitten cheeks. “I was being careful, I swear I was,” he whispered desperately, gripping onto Hongjoong like the other man was a life preserver and he was adrift at sea.

“Hey, hey,” Hongjoong interrupted, daring to press his lips again to Seonghwa’s, this kiss sweeter and gentler than the first one. “This isn’t your fault. When you’re done your shifts, call me or San, we’ll come and get you. Or one of the others. We’ll come and stay with you. I know the others wouldn’t hesitate to help if they could.”

Seonghwa frowned against the other man’s lips, his grip white-knuckling. There was something unbelievably grounding and addictive about Hongjoong’s kisses, and he wanted more. He _needed_ more. “I don’t want to be a burden,” he whispered.

“You _aren’t_ ,” Hongjoong countered fiercely. “You weren’t before and you aren’t now. We take care of each other, Seonghwa. How many times have you talked one of us down from hysteria? You didn’t judge Yunho when he was devastated his favourite character in a show died, you helped him through it. Or when Mingi couldn’t get that merch drop from his favourite artist, you stayed with him and spent half the night finding other outlets that sold official stuff. Fuck, how many times did you talk my dumbass out of seeing how long I could go without sleep for?” Boldly, Hongjoong stole another kiss, wiping away Seonghwa’s tears with his thumbs. “Hell, San told me that you helped him with Wooyoung’s gift. We’ll help you like you helped us. That what friends do. That’s what _family_ does.”

Words that he’d spent so long trying to voice died in his throat and Seonghwa could only duck down and capture Hongjoong’s lips into a deep kiss, hoping that it could say what he couldn’t. Hongjoong didn’t hesitate, returning the kiss deeply. “Let’s go home,” he croaked, his voice cracking.

“We’re gone,” Hongjoong agreed, placing a soft kiss to the corner of Seonghwa’s mouth. He pulled away and helped straighten out their clothes, taking Seonghwa’s hand in his as he led him away and to a subway station further away. They took a fairly roundabout route, transferring randomly and making a general mess of their route before finally arriving at the apartment in Itaewon.

Seonghwa was a mess; he could barely get himself in order enough to clean the makeup off his face, prompting Hongjoong to take the lead. Somehow he pulled himself together enough to take a shower, though it was just long enough that Hongjoong had to knock on the door and ask if he’d accidentally drowned himself or something. The horror of the image of Seonghwa managing to stand with his jaw open for so long that the pathetic water pressure of the shower drowned him and having Hongjoong see that was enough to snap Seonghwa out of his daze.

He wasn’t sure what prompted him to do so, but as soon as he was dry and out of the shower, Seonghwa ignored the clothing that Hongjoong had set out for him and instead shifted into his Snow Leopard form once he’d opened the bathroom door. Hongjoong was barefaced and in a pair of baggy sleep shorts and an old _BIGBANG_ t-shirt, sapphire blue hair ruffled and devoid of product. His eyes widened when faced with Seonghwa in his Snow Leopard form as he’d never seen it before - Seonghwa was, understandably, very private about showing anyone his other form given its size and the uncommonness of it.

A smile soon creased Hongjoong’s lips as he realized why Seonghwa was in this form and he patted the spot beside him on the bed. “Come on, let’s get some sleep.”

Seonghwa rumbled low in his throat, wiping his paws off on the carpet before elegantly jumping up onto the bed and curling up next to Hongjoong. His long tail curled around one of Hongjoong’s hands that rested on his side, prompting the human to smile at him fondly. An embarrassed sound escaped Seonghwa, close to a whine than anything an elegant creature such as Snow Leopard should make.

Thankfully, Hongjoong took it in stride and used his other hand to scratch behind Seonghwa’s ears. Tension filled Seonghwa’s powerful frame until he began to realize that Hongjoong was saying something to him - no, Hongjoong was _singing_ to him - while petting him. It was a sweet song about nothing in particular. As he slowly became comfortable, Seonghwa’s great head rested on Hongjoong’s right thigh, his tail finally letting go of the man’s wrist.

As sleep finally began to claim him, Seonghwa could swear he heard Hongjoong whisper at a register that was almost inaudible if he didn’t have such good hearing, “goodnight, Seonghwa. I love you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> gasp


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seonghwa and Hongjoong find they’re the dream they live in, the dream they can never awake from

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was not intending for this chapter to be so big but it got away from me and I couldn't bear to cut it and make this 7 chapters... So please enjoy this 11k finale!

Ordinarily, if one woke up with a Snow Leopard half on top of them with one large paw splayed across their chest and that same Snow Leopard’s head nuzzled close to their neck, they would scream and pray for a quick death. Hongjoong, on the other hand, initially wondered how much he drank last night before the events of the night before came flooding back to him: seeing Seonghwa at the Host Bar that Wooyoung had his birthday party at, shamelessly flirting with Seonghwa, _kissing Seonghwa_ to hide from someone who was following them (still didn’t know who that was, by the way) and Seonghwa shifting to his were-cat form to seek unconditional comfort.

Slowly and carefully so has not to unduly jostle the slumbering big cat, Hongjoong raised a hand and gently scratched at the nape of Seonghwa’s neck. A sleepy, contented purr rumbled in Seonghwa’s throat, and Hongjoong bit his lip to stop from cooing. He wasn’t stupid; he knew the amount of trust that Seonghwa had in him to not only show him this but to fall asleep like this with Hongjoong was massive.

 _Goodnight, Seonghwa. I love you_.

Hongjoong grimaced and lightly hit his head back against the pillow with a silent groan; how could he go and just _say_ that? He was reasonably sure that Seonghwa was already asleep when he said it, it was the only way he could justify the sudden rush of foolhardy courage that overtook him in that moment. Maybe if … if Seonghwa was not receptive to being like that with him, Hongjoong could just say it was love in the friend sense. That wasn’t a lie.

Then again… Seonghwa had kissed him back. More than once, even. Maybe this wasn’t as farfetched an option for end game as he’d once thought.

His fingers had stopped scratching gently at Seonghwa’s nape, and the Snow Leopard whined in his sleep, nuzzling closer. His heart clenched tight, and Hongjoong knew now more than ever that he was whipped for one man and one man only - Park Seonghwa. Biting his lip, Hongjoong carefully stretched and awkwardly pawed at his phone, catching it just as it fell off the bedside table on his side of the bed. His notification centre was filled with check-in texts from the others and he one-handedly opened his phone and typed a response, thankful for the slide keyboard.

 **Hongjoong [9:26 a.m.]  
** Hey  
Woo, can you contact Hwa’s professors  
and let them know he’s not coming in today  
for personal reasons

 **Wooyoung [9:27 a.m.]  
** for sure  
— wait, what happened?

 **Mingi [9:27 a.m.]  
** Is Seonghwa-hyung ok? 

**Yunho [9:28 a.m.]  
** What did you do to him hyung

 **Hongjoong [9:30 a.m.]  
** wtf  
why does it have to be me that did something  
a pox on all ur houses  
no some1 was following us  
Hwa’s still fucked up from it

 **San [9:31 a.m.]  
** Did you get a good look at them? 

**Hongjoong [9:32 a.m.]  
** no  
I’m not sure if they were just after us 2 rob us  
or if they were after Hwa  
but  
he’s prolly out of commission 4 2day  
can u let his boss know, Sannie?

 **San [9:33 a.m.]  
** Yeah, absolutely. I’ll let Chan know 

**Jongho [9:34 a.m.]  
** Good thing you decided to stay back with him hyung

 **Wooyoung [9:35 a.m.]  
** I let his professors know  
they seem worried but they didn’t press it 

**Hongjoong [9:37 a.m.]  
** Thx, Woo  
Ill let u guys know if I need ne-thg  
fuk

 **Yunho [9:38 a.m.]  
** … occupied, hyung?

 **Hongjoong [9:40 a.m.]  
** u try typing w a snow leopard on u  
fuck  
u didn’t hear that  
read it  
fuck

 **Wooyoung [9:41 a.m.]  
** ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)  
so Seonghwa-hyung’s sleeping on you  
in his snow leopard form huh

 **Hongjoong [9:43 a.m.]  
** stfu  
he was scared

 **Wooyoung [9:43 a.m.]  
** I think it’s cute!   
It means he trusts you

 **Yeosang [9:45 a.m.]  
** what’d I miss  
…  
I fucking knew it!  
Kim Hongjoong you sit on a throne of lies  
oh I don’t love Seonghwa-hyung  
LIAR  
that’s you

 **Hongjoong [9:45 a.m.]  
** shut ur face, Yeo  
ur all dead 2 me  
esp. yeo  
so what if i do  
i hope ur crops burn  
u know hwa’s in this chat 2

 **San [9:46 a.m.]  
** Chan’s up to date on the situation  
he’s gonna review the security footage from the street by the bar  
Also  
Felix says he’ll come and stay with Seonghwa-hyung while you’re out  
just to let him know

 **Hongjoong [9:47 a.m.]  
** Felix  
? 

**San [9:47 a.m.]  
** One of the hosts at God’s Menu  
He’s a Lynx were-cat  
might be easier for Seonghwa-hyung if there’s another big cat there  
while you’re out

 **Hongjoong [9:48 a.m.]  
** ah ok  
that’s cool  
give him my # 

**San [9:49 a.m.]  
** Already done

 **Hongjoong [9:50 a.m.]  
** thnx  
will text if anything changes

With that sorted, Hongjoong locked his phone and gave it a light chuck up onto his bedside table before relaxing back. Luckily Seonghwa hadn’t moved an inch during that whole exchange, instead nuzzling closer and purring loudly in his sleep. Maybe this wasn’t the worst way to wake up in the morning… maybe … just maybe, Hongjoong wanted this every morning.

~ * ~

 _Goodnight, Seonghwa. I love you_.

When Seonghwa opened his eyes, he flicked his tail absently as the sleep slowly faded from his mind. He stretched languidly and opened his mouth to yawn, realizing quite quickly as he shifted that there was a body beside him. Suddenly tensing, Seonghwa paused and lowered his powerful body close to the mattress, ears flattened to his head as he watched Hongjoong sleep. His icy blue eyes shifted from Hongjoong’s chest rising and falling with each breath to his peacefully slumbering face.

It was the first time that he’d woken up before Hongjoong, and Seonghwa felt a bit lightheaded by the realization that … maybe he would like seeing the younger man’s face first thing in the morning a lot more. Maybe… in an ‘I want to see that every day’ kind of way. With a soft groan, Seonghwa ducked his head in embarrassment, flicking his tail irritably.

Despite himself, Seonghwa leaned up and nuzzled Hongjoong’s neck before slinking off the bed and shifting back to his human form. He quickly grabbed his clothes and his phone, making his way to the bathroom. As he shut the door behind him and locked it, Seonghwa opened up his phone and saw the deluge of text notifications.

He scrolled to the top and he felt his chest constrict with affection: at some point this morning, Hongjoong texted the others to let them know what was going on and asked Wooyoung to advise Seonghwa’s professors that he’d be likely missing today’s classes, and San to advise Chan that he might likely miss work that night. Hongjoong was always thinking of Seonghwa first, even though the older man knew that Hongjoong was drowning in work and stress himself. As he scrolled through the chat, however, he caught sight of a very interesting exchange:

 **Yeosang [9:45 a.m.]  
** what’d I miss  
…  
I fucking knew it!  
Kim Hongjoong you sit on a throne of lies  
oh I don’t love Seonghwa-hyung  
LIAR  
that’s you

 **Hongjoong [9:45 a.m.]  
** shut ur face, Yeo  
ur all dead 2 me  
esp. yeo  
so what if i do  
i hope ur crops burn  
u know hwa’s in this chat 2

Heat rose to Seonghwa’s face and he stared at the exchange for a long moment, in particular he couldn’t break his eyes away from the simple response of ‘so what if i do’ from Hongjoong to Yeosang. Something had definitely changed between them, and an embarrassed sound escaped him as he remembered the heated kisses they shared outside of _God’s Menu_. A part of him had worried that Hongjoong only did it to distract from whoever was following them, but… as Seonghwa looked at the chat log, with that simple and direct admission…

… maybe it wasn’t as impossible as he thought.

Emboldened by this realization, Seonghwa quickly showered and got himself ready, deciding that he would take the bull by the horns. Once he’d gotten himself in order, Seonghwa busied himself in the kitchen, opening up cabinets and the small pantry to pull out what he needed to make a good breakfast for them both. While he wasn’t on Hongjoong’s level, Seonghwa’s cooking was nothing to sneeze at and he rolled up his sleeves, getting right to work.

He decided on making a simple breakfast, knowing he shouldn’t go overboard though the instinct was definitely there. His were-cat instincts were beginning to go haywire, thanks to Hongjoong’s increasingly clear responses to his advances. His instincts were pushing him to provide for the one he had feelings for… his potential mate. A blush coloured Seonghwa’s cheeks as he ducked his head, whisking the eggs perhaps a bit too harshly.

A _mate_. The idea of marking Hongjoong as his, of letting everyone know that he was taken in a way that was undeniable sent an involuntary shiver up Seonghwa’s spine. There was just something so different about it than the human custom of rings and marriage. He wanted those things too, of course, but being mates seemed more… permanent? It went deeper than jewellery and paperwork. Were-cats usually mated with each other, but there were definitely those that mated to humans and the process remained the same - they gave a mating bite to a very specific part of the neck to each other.

While Black Cats had a soulmate picked out for them by fate and marked with one half of an earring, one thing that were-cats and Black Cats had in common was that a mating bite would create an undeniable, unbreakable bond. Most got a tattoo around the bite to very clearly indicate that they were taken, and Seonghwa bit his lip as his thoughts ran away from him and gave him the very clear image of Hongjoong’s flushed neck with a gorgeously inked border with Seonghwa’s name forming part of the curved lines.

He was getting carried away.

Quickly and firmly, Seonghwa shook his head and set his mind to finishing up breakfast. He could hear the shower running as Hongjoong finally peeled himself off the bed and his arrival was announced thereafter by a loud yawn. Hazarding a glance, Seonghwa turned his head to greet him and felt his eyes widen slightly: Hongjoong was wearing tapered joggers, the waistband hanging low on his narrow hips as he had a hand shoved up his baggy shirt, showing off his toned abdomen. There were no defined lines of a six pack, but there _was_ a tattoo along Hongjoong’s right hip up along his ribs to his pectoral of a ribbon of a musical staff, littered with orange roses and an old-school silver microphone nestled in the middle.

“Good Morning,” Seonghwa greeted, cursing his voice as it cracked. Kim Hongjoong was going to be the death of him.

“Morning,” Hongjoong returned the greeting, scratching idly at his stomach before his shirt’s hem fell down, completely hiding the tattoo. “You didn’t have to make breakfast, Hwa. I was gonna order something in whenever you woke up.”

Seonghwa shook his head, trying valiantly to clear it of thoughts that were of him dragging his tongue along the ink on the other man’s ribcage and how sensitive it still was. “I wanted to,” he said instead, thankful he still knew how to speak. “There’s no need to waste money when there’s still food to use in here.”

Hongjoong appeared at his side, leaning over to take a peek at what Seonghwa had put together. “Thank you,” he said with a smile, dangerously close to Seonghwa’s lips; he was always at the perfect height for a forehead kiss and now that he knew what Hongjoong tasted like, Seonghwa was desperate to experience it again. He stayed ramrod still, however, until Hongjoong broke away to give Seonghwa his space. “How are you feeling?”

Thankful for something else to focus on, Seonghwa took his time to respond, instead bringing the food over to the small table. “Better than I thought,” he admitted. “I thought I’d be more messed up from it, but … I think … knowing that you and the others are there has … it’s helped a lot.”

“If you ever need me to come and walk to work or back from work with you, let me know,” Hongjoong offered seriously. “Nothing’s more important than making sure that you feel safe.”

Seonghwa nearly dropped his plate in surprise at how much his heart leapt at the admission. “Thank you,” he replied honestly, swallowing. “Can I ask… something of you, then?”

Hongjoong’s eyes widened slightly and he nodded, eager to help. “Sure, of course. What’s up?”

“Let’s go to the studio today,” Seonghwa said suddenly, sliding into his seat across from the other man. “To work on your song.”

In response, Hongjoong blinked owlishly at him. “You want to? I thought you’d want to stay in here and veg out or something. — not that I don’t want to! Go to the studio. With you, I mean. We can totally go if you want to.” He fumbled for his phone and checked something - likely the schedule for the studio. “Looks like it’s booked up today… — oh!”

 **Hongjoong [11:37 a.m.]  
** Namjoonie-hyung! Yoongi-hyung!  
Good Morning!  
Can I ask a huge favour?

 **Yoongi-hyung [11:38 a.m.]  
** No I’m not letting you take my FOCAL headphones 

**Namjoon-hyung [11:38 a.m.]  
** You don’t know that’s what he was going to ask for  
it probably wasn’t that  
… right? 

**Hongjoong [11:40 a.m.]  
** No! Definitely not  
I don’t want Yoongi-hyung to kill me  
I have too much to live for  
I meant if I could use the studio  
The one at school is booked up and I have a final project due soon  
I won’t take too long, maybe a week, maybe less  
I’ll do whatever you need in payment!

**Yoongi-hyung [11:43 a.m.]  
** Hm  
Ordinarily I’d tell you to pound sand  
but you did save our asses with that song  
Sure  
Joon?

 **Namjoon-hyung [11:44 a.m.]  
** I’m fine with it so long as he locks up every night  
I’ll create a guest account for our system so you can work without worrying about messing up anything we have going on.  
I’ll send the details to your email 

**Hongjoong [11:45 a.m.]  
** Thank you!  
I owe you big time, hyungs

 **Yoongi-hyung [11:46 a.m.]  
** You owe me your first born  
but I’m being told that’s frowned upon nowadays  
so I’ve got something else 

**Hongjoong [11:47 a.m.]  
** Name it!

 **Yoongi-hyung [11:50 a.m.]  
** There’s a show at PERSONA on Xmas Eve  
They’re being weird about booking us and want a third  
We’ll perform together and you’ll go afterwards  
Guess they want to fill time  
Think you can do it? 

**Hongjoong [11:51 a.m.]  
** Me??  
Perform??  
Um, yeah. If that’s what it takes to get use of the studio  
I can do that

 **Namjoon-hyung [11:52 a.m.]  
** I know you have tons of unreleased and unperformed material  
You’ll be fine  
Email has been sent

 **Hongjoong [11:53 a.m.]  
** Thank you!

Knowing Seonghwa was looking at him curiously, Hongjoong looked up from his phone and smiled sheepishly. “I was texting Namjoon-hyung and Yoongi-hyung,” he explained finally. “They have a studio that they use from time to time and I was seeing if I could borrow it for this week. They said sure; I was just working out a repayment.”

“What did they ask for in exchange?” Seonghwa asked curiously, sipping his coffee.

Hongjoong blushed and shook his head. “They asked me to help out with something around Christmas Eve,” he answered shyly. “They, um, perform sometimes and they want to do a show on the 24th, so… they asked if I could be their third as the venue won’t book them without a third person.”

Seonghwa’s eyes widened; for as long as he’d known Hongjoong, he’d made a side-hustle of writing and producing songs for other artists, never performing himself. “And you agreed?” he asked softly.

“I had to,” Hongjoong replied, rubbing his neck. “I need the studio; this project is worth like 60% of my mark. I can perform at some music club if it means I can get this done and get the mark I know I deserve.” He sighed. “I guess I talk so much about how much I want to perform that the universe got sick of my shit and forced my hand.”

Without realizing he’d done it, Seonghwa reached forward and grasped Hongjoong’s hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. Hongjoong was playing it off as no big deal, but the tension was radiating off him in waves. As proud as he was of his work and knew how good he could be, there was a reason Hongjoong never performed. Or if he did, that he didn’t tell anyone.

“I’ll help however I can,” he offered seriously. “Let’s finish breakfast and get down to your hyung’s studio.” A part of him argued that if he felt this good to be obstinate, he should go to school and catch up on what he’s missed, but the prevailing part wanted to help his mate.

He was in trouble, already thinking of Hongjoong as his mate. But if there was something that Park Seonghwa wasn’t, it was a quitter or someone who left those he cared about hanging. What he and Hongjoong were now could wait.

~ * ~

Hongjoong in the studio was quite possibly the hottest thing that Seonghwa had ever experienced. There was something so inextricably attractive about seeing someone in their element, surrounded by what they love to do and doing what they do best. Slight anxiousness rose up from his gut and lodged in his throat as Hongjoong guided him to the singing booth, giving him a rundown of what did what and what he needed to do - which, luckily, just amounted to ‘keep the headphones on and follow my lead’.

The song Hongjoong was composing for the final project in arguably his most important class in his degree was not at all what Seonghwa was expecting from him. He knew Hongjoong’s influence and style leaned more towards hip-hop and electronica, maybe even leaning towards Noise, but this was a sweeping, beautiful, stripped down and gorgeous melody. As he listened to it, Seonghwa could imagine staring out a window as rain splattered gently on it, the sun struggling to break through the light grey clouds.

“I know it’s not much right now, but vocals will really launch this into the next level,” came Hongjoong’s voice in Seonghwa’s headphones. “The lyrics are kind of basic, but if you want to ad-lib, go for it.”

“Joong, this is the most beautiful melody I’ve ever heard,” Seonghwa replied, tilting his head. “You don’t need to downplay it on my account.”

He could see a blush colour Hongjoong’s tanned cheeks and he ducked his head, his earrings dangling back and forth from his head’s movement. “I just… this is the first time someone other than Mingi’s helped me, and he’s definitely not heard a whole song I made.”

The admission brought a wave of intense surprise to the were-cat, and his mouth slightly hung open for a moment before he snapped it shut. “Thank you for letting me hear it, Hongjoong,” Seonghwa replied softly. “I’ll do my best to make it better for you.”

He got a shy smile in response and Seonghwa’s heart clenched unbearably tight at the sight. “Just sing how you feel is best,” Hongjoong instructed gently. “We have the week to work on this.”

“I hear some faint backing vocals on this - is it you?” Seonghwa asked idly, his eyes fluttering shut as the song playback started up again.

There was a choked sound coming in the speakers of his headphones, and Seonghwa laughed softly. “Yeah,” Hongjoong admitted sheepishly. “Please ignore them; I know it’s pretty hokey; I’m not a very good vocalist.”

Seonghwa shook his head. “No, they’re very good. You’re a little off pitch but it sounds like you were just using the vocals as a guide for tweaks to the beat … your tone is very even, the feeling is there. For being self-taught, it’s really impressive.” 

Now a bright blush shot across Hongjoong’s cheeks and he put his face in his hands, a garbled ‘thank you’ coming through Seonghwa’s ears. “Let’s get to work. I don’t want to keep you here longer than we need to be here,” he weakly instructed. “Ready?”

“Ready.”

The first session, although it started off well enough, soon became very awkward and took the entirety of the rest of the day to get through due to their conflicting outlooks. Hongjoong had a very specific vision and was having a difficult time letting go and adapting to any changes Seonghwa suggested - even if they were right. No voices were raised, but tensions were definitely high after the first try at laying down vocals for Hongjoong’s project track, and Seonghwa could feel his hackles were permanently raised. He knew what he was doing when it came to singing and although the track was Hongjoong’s, this was a _collaboration_ , not a dictatorship.

He kept his mouth shut as he listened to Hongjoong give a very impassioned and bull-headed defence of why he thought the track should be the way he already had it. Seonghwa listened the entire way from the studio to the small apartment they shared, counting quietly in his head to extend his patience. Hongjoong’s hands were waving wildly and he was saying Seonghwa’s name with such insistence and passion that it was taking everything in Seonghwa’s power to keep himself under control. He had to continually repeat to himself that Hongjoong was stressed with finals and assignments like the rest of them, but it wasn’t like Seonghwa didn’t have to go to work at _God’s Menu_ in a few hours on top of his own work too.

“Are you even _listening,_ Seonghwa?”

Hongjoong had taken to poking Seonghwa in the chest with each word to emphasize his point, and as soon as his name left the human’s lips, Seonghwa pushed him up against the nearest wall, icy blue eyes bright with intensity. “ _Yes_ ,” he replied with a bit of a growl in his voice, hands pinning Hongjoong’s wrists to the paint-chipped wall. He could feel Hongjoong reflexively tense in his hold before looking back at the Snow Leopard with fiery brown eyes. “But it doesn’t matter right now. Can I kiss you?”

He was at his limit. He couldn’t go on like this. He just hoped that Hongjoong felt the same way, that Seonghwa wasn’t misreading the sexually charged energy between them.

Surprise coloured the human’s features and he momentarily went slack under Seonghwa’s grip. “You — you’re _asking?_ ” His breath hitched as Seonghwa nosed at his neck, tickled by the blond strands that were swept off the older man’s forehead. “Fuck, _yeah_. Kiss me, Hwa … _fuck_ _me_. I want it.” He licked his chapped lips and looked Seonghwa straight in the eyes. “I want _you_.”

A low, barely restrain growl of arousal rumbled out of Seonghwa’s throat, pressing itself against Hongjoong’s neck. How long had he wanted to hear those words? Over three years, ever since he saw Hongjoong with his fire-red hair sitting - well, _laying_ \- languidly across three desks in their Introduction to Greek & Roman Religion class. That same beguiling confidence mixed with intense awkwardness and clumsiness endeared Seonghwa to him instantly, and he always found himself in Hongjoong’s orbit since then.

The route to the bedroom was littered with their clothing, tossed haphazardly and recklessly. They’d probably trip over random articles of clothing later, send themselves free falling and smacking their heads on a table but that was future them’s problem. Seonghwa used every bit of his Snow Leopard strength to practically carry Hongjoong onto the bed, letting go of him long enough to practically tear the rest of his clothing off and toss it aside.

Seonghwa licked his lips as he watched Hongjoong fight with his jeans and boxers, flinging them to the side once he was free. There was that tattoo again, a beautiful piece of artwork with gorgeous lines and vibrant oranges (the roses), greens (their thorns) and silvers (the microphone). It stood out against Hongjoong’s tanned skin, and finally, he had permission to touch… and perhaps, do more. Granted, Seonghwa had only known about the tattoo since that morning, but it’d felt like another eternity tacked on to their will-they-won’t-they.

The Snow Leopard were-cat moved up onto the bed with a power and grace that was almost supernatural. He could hear Hongjoong’s quickening breaths, he could smell the arousal coming off him, could see how his abdomen clenched in anticipation… it was driving him crazy. As he moved over top the other man, Hongjoong reached up with a hand and curled his fingers around Seonghwa’s neck, pulling him down for another kiss. It was surprisingly sharp, not sloppy or unpracticed - Hongjoong had a _plan_ for this, had an _idea_ of how he wants to kiss Seonghwa, and it was coming through each and every time their lips touched. The human’s fingers dug in slightly into Seonghwa’s nape, his blunt fingernails lightly scratching the skin.

A surprised moan mixed with a growl tumbled past Seonghwa’s lips, tattooing itself to Hongjoong’s. While the motion was comforting when between friendly were-cats, it was utterly intoxicating when done by a potential mate. “Joong,” Seonghwa whispered lowly, fingers tightening in the sheets of their shared bed. “Damn you, you’re doing that on purpose.”

“Of course I am,” Hongjoong shot back, a devilish smirk on his lips - almost mirroring the one he gave Seonghwa when they were playing a game of sexy chicken on Wooyoung’s birthday. “When you were dead asleep on top of me, that’s how I got you to move.”

Realization flashed across Seonghwa’s icy blue eyes; so that’s what he was doing. “ _You_ …” he couldn’t even get the full sentence out, instead leaning down to capture Hongjoong’s lips in a rough kiss, full of passion, full of intent. His hands were as greedy as his lips, taking advantage of every inch of skin he could touch, breaking the kiss so his lips could join his hands at lavishing attention on Hongjoong’s tattoo. “How come I didn’t know about this?”

A gasp of surprise left Hongjoong’s mouth as it slackened in surprise, Seonghwa’s question as to the sensitivity being quickly answered. “It never came up,” he replied, breath catching as Seonghwa sucked a dark bruise into the dip at his waist. “ _Fuck_ , Seonghwa… you trying to eat me?”

“Just about,” Seonghwa hissed against the darkening love bite. He paused as a thought occurred to him. “Joong, do you have—”

“—drawer,” Hongjoong ground out, gesturing to the bedside table on his side of the bed, the one he’d mentioned if Seonghwa could leave alone please and thank you when he’d gone on his cleaning bender.

Once he’d opened the drawer, Seonghwa saw why. Inside the drawer were only two things: a small bottle of lube and a box of condoms. “Looks like someone’s prepared,” Seonghwa murmured, fishing the items out and tossing them onto the bed beside Hongjoong. “These for you?”

“Easier clean up when I jerk off,” Hongjoong replied breathlessly, flopping back on the bed with a heavy exhale. Seonghwa didn’t need to know that no one else had seemed even remotely attractive to Hongjoong since they met.

There was a long pause of silence before the human’s lips were captured in yet another kiss - this one hungrier and more consuming than the last. “That’s almost the sexiest thing you’ve ever said to me,” Seonghwa murmured, carefully biting and sucking at Hongjoong’s lower lip.

“Only you’d have a cleaning kink,” Hongjoong teased, the shit-eating grin morphing into a candid expression of pleasure when Seonghwa’s slicked up finger teased between his legs. “Fuck… don’t keep me waiting, Hwa … been waiting three years for you.”

Whatever resolve Seonghwa had in going slow shattered into a thousand pieces at the admission. “You play dirty!” he hissed, finger stopping just short of where Hongjoong wanted it. “Like I haven’t been waiting just as long.”

Hongjoong licked his lips. “With how long you’re taking, it’s like you’re hoping to take even longer — fuck!” He keened, tilting his head back as Seonghwa’s long, slender finger pushed inside. “Bastard…” Hongjoong breathed, eyes fluttering shut as the Snow Leopard stretched him open with skilled fingers. “God, of course your fingers are magic, what the _fuck_.”

A swell of pride swirled dangerously within Seonghwa’s gut, watching as Hongjoong started to fall apart … and all because of _him_. “You’re not the only one who’s thought about this,” Seonghwa replied finally when he’d gotten the younger man right where he’d wanted him. For a moment, the were-cat’s hands trembled as he slipped a condom out of the box, tearing the foil with a surprising amount of deftness considering how his nerves decided _then_ was the time to make an appearance.

There was no turning back now.

The rip of the foil seemed to stir something in Hongjoong, and his eyes squeezed shut as his chest heaved, the beautiful ink splayed across his hip and trailing up to his pectoral muscle stretching gorgeously. “Are you sensitive to sound? Of course you are,” Seonghwa answered his own question, sliding forward to tear open the foil wrapper the rest of the way near Hongjoong’s right ear. A grin curled his lips as he watched the other man writhe on the bed; he’d found a fun new sensory trigger…

He couldn’t wait much longer, however, and Seonghwa was quick to get himself ready. _They’d_ waited long enough already, and Seonghwa stole a breathless kiss before beginning to push himself in. He went slow, not wanting to harm Hongjoong - at least, that had been the plan before the younger man wrapped his legs around Seonghwa’s narrow waist and _pulled_ him in with one fell movement. Seonghwa choked on air, burying his face against Hongjoong’s flushed neck. He could feel Hongjoong’s laugh huff out against his ear.

“Been waiting too damn long for this,” Hongjoong explained breathlessly. Experimentally, he rolled his hips up, grinning triumphantly at the strangled moan that he got from Seonghwa in return. “Doesn’t it feel good, Hwa? Don’t _I_ feel good?”

Kim Hongjoong was some sort of demon, Seonghwa was sure of it. “You sure are chatty in bed,” Seonghwa commented through gritted teeth as he adjusted to the addictive, intoxicating heat that was squeezed tight around him. With a soft growl, Seonghwa resumed kissing and marking up Hongjoong’s neck, beginning a deep and slow pace that brought delicious, high-pitched moans from the human.

“Gets me what I want,” Hongjoong groaned, eyes fluttering shut as he moved in time with the were-cat’s thrusts, their rhythm deep, slow, and in sync. One of Hongjoong’s hands nestled tightly into Seonghwa’s pale blond hair, gripping it as they moved together. Seonghwa abandoned his assault on Hongjoong’s neck to steal sloppy, heated kisses, something primal in him gaining momentum the more he heard the loud creaks coming from Hongjoong’s old mattress. “Fuck, you feel so good, Hwa… _please_ …”

Seonghwa licked his lips, his tongue catching on the kiss-bitten ones of Hongjoong. “Where is it…” he whispered to himself, changing the angle and pace of his thrusts until a strangled cry pitched out of the human. “ _There it is_.” Relief washed over him - he wasn’t going to last long himself, so now that he’d found Hongjoong’s prostate, he could start this in earnest.

Talking fell to the wayside, words abandoned in favour of choked moans, trembling breaths and the wet sounds of lubrication and their kisses. Seonghwa could feel Hongjoong’s hands on his shoulders, gripping so tightly that there were bound to be bruises the next day. He stilled suddenly as Hongjoong leaned up and licked at Seonghwa’s piercings, curling his tongue around the shiny silver hoops and sparkling studs. He’d just reached down to grasp at Hongjoong’s so far neglected length, his strokes getting harder and faster, staving off his climax in favour of getting Hongjoong off first.

Their eyes locked; a silent challenge to one another about which one of them would come first. Seonghwa licked his lips and Hongjoong smirked. This was the most playful, the most passionate and worked up he’d been during sex, and he knew that it had to be 100% due to the fact that it was Hongjoong beneath him. A genuine smile creased his swollen lips as he dove down for another kiss, whispering three words against his lips.

Hongjoong tensed underneath him, his fingers digging into Seonghwa’s toned shoulders as his orgasm overtook him. He’d always been handsome, gorgeous even, but nothing compared to the sight that befell Seonghwa right then: Hongjoong, undone, in the throes of passion and completely wrecked… because of _him_ , Park Seonghwa.

It was enough to pull Seonghwa over the edge was well, the exertion too much and he’d just barely caught himself in time before he fell atop Hongjoong once the high had passed. They stayed like that, breathing heavily against one another before it became too much. “I need to… stay still, I need to pull out,” Seonghwa gasped.

Hongjoong whined softly. “But this is my favourite part…”

“ _Demon_ ,” Seonghwa hissed, his ring adorned fingers threading through Hongjoong’s sweaty blue hair, smiling as a bit of dye came off and onto his fingers. He ignored it in favour of stealing a deep kiss from the younger man, slowly pulling out and eliciting some very delicious moans in response. “I need to clean us up.”

He received another groan, but this one of intense disappointment. “Clean freak.”

“Stay crusty, then.”

Hongjoong groaned and slowly pushed himself up, watching as Seonghwa disposed of the condom and brought over a pair of damp towels from the bathroom. Once he was satisfied as to their (and the bed’s) state of cleanliness, Seonghwa nodded and pulled the covers up over them both, pulling Hongjoong into a tight hug. “Oof.”

“Mine,” Seonghwa mumbled against Hongjoong’s forehead some time later, once their breathing had evened out and their temperature cooled.

The human’s head snapped up and just as he was about to ask him about that, he saw that Seonghwa was out for the count, his grip as tight as ever. “Hwa…” Hongjoong whispered, reaching up to touch Seonghwa’s cheek. He brushed the errand strands of blond hair away from the were-cat’s face and shook his head fondly. “Fuck me senseless then cuddle me to death… how’d I get so lucky?”

It was going to be hellish to wake Seonghwa up to go to work, and Hongjoong wondered if he should just tell Bang Chan that Seonghwa was going to be taking the night off. No, Seonghwa would probably kill him and Hongjoong rather liked living so he just laid there with the Snow Leopard, idly playing with his hair until it was time for Seonghwa to get up for work. Hongjoong’s entire heart burst with affection when Seonghwa opened his eyes sleepily at the human’s prodding, pale blond hair ruffled and face slightly puffy.

Seonghwa went from sleepy and fluffy to sleek and sophisticated seemingly in an flash as he got ready, and Hongjoong’s mouth hung open as Seonghwa fixed his hair with gel and added a bit of sapphire blue liquid eyeliner to accentuate his icy blue eyes. “Have fun at work,” Hongjoong said, cursing inwardly as his voice cracked. “Want me to walk with you?”

The Snow Leopard turned around and smiled, shaking his head. He leaned down, placing a soft kiss to the corner of Hongjoong’s mouth, leaving a little outline of his glossy lips. “That’s all right. I texted Felix when I got up and he should be here soon.” Soon, his phone vibrated and he answered the call, putting it on speaker. “Oi Felix!” Seonghwa greeted, laughing as he heard a peal of laughter from the other end of the line. “You’re on speaker.”

“ _I’m here!_ ” came Felix’s cheerful voice. “ _Binnie, Seungminie and Hannie are with me too. Are you ready? Is your boyfriend going to come too?_ ”

Hongjoong’s face turned bright red and suspiciously, Seonghwa didn’t seem at all embarrassed. “No, he’s staying here. I’ll be down in a moment.”

“ _We’ll take good care of Hwa-hyung!_ ” Felix promised. “ _I’ll send you pictures throughout the night, ok, Hongjoong-ssi?_ ”

Blinking slowly, Hongjoong couldn’t help but laugh as he realized what was going on. “Of Seonghwa or the rest of you?”

“ _Good call on being specific_ ,” Changbin said, laughing. “ _No doubt Jisung will probably try and send you pictures of himself the entire night._ ”

“ _They’ll be so blurry,_ ” Seungmin snorted.

“ _It’s not his fault he’s taking pictures with a Samsung fridge_ ,” Felix explained with a giggle.

“ _NO, it’s because I’m the hidden jewel of God’s Menu and no mere camera can’t handle me_ ,” Jisung snapped back, unable to stop himself from laughing too. “ _Come on, let’s get going; Minho-hyung is going to get pissy if we’re late._ ”

“ _He gets mad at YOU for being late,_ ” Seungmin pointed out. “ _But I’m like 98% sure it’s just an act so we don’t see how soft he is for you. Like we’re all blind or something._ ”

“ _Oh shut your whole face—_ ”

“— _I don’t kink shame but I’ll make an exception here_.”

Seonghwa sighed, rubbing his forehead but a smile was threatening to crease his lips. “If you don’t stop I’m going to loop Chan-hyung into this call. I have no qualms about ratting all of you out.”

Hongjoong covered his face with his hands as he fell backwards on the bed; the hosts at _God’s Menu_ were definitely as crazy as their friend group and he could see how Seonghwa could feel comfortable there. “Have fun at work, Hwa. If you manage to land a whale of a sugar mama, let her know that she’s gotta share.”

A blush coloured Seonghwa’s cheeks and he nodded. “Noted.”

~ * ~

As much as Hongjoong had planned on exploring this new aspect of his relationship with Seonghwa, the final stretch before finals was upon them and overwhelmed them like a tsunami crashing into a town. In whatever spare time they _did_ have, Seonghwa and Hongjoong were in the studio, working on Hongjoong’s final project and necessity ironed out the creative differences that had plagued the first session.

For the first half of December, Hongjoong and Seonghwa barely saw each other, only in passing back at the apartment or at school for lunch and even then, it was brief. Their friend group was largely fragmented anyway as everyone’s schedules went haywire in the final stretch of the semester, especially before winter break. He’d have gone through social interaction withdrawal if he wasn’t pressing his nose to the grindstone and pushing through towards the final exams in his other classes distracting him.

If someone had asked Hongjoong to explain or recall what happened up to and after his final exams, he wouldn’t have an answer for them. He was reasonably sure he passed exceptionally, but he could not for the life of him recall literally anything that happened when the others asked how it was going.

He trudged into the apartment, now free and clear of classes for two weeks, and threw himself onto the couch with a loud groan. Suddenly, he threw himself up off the couch with a sudden and stark realization: _He still had a performance to prepare for_. A performance that he agreed to out of desperation which mean the had to prepare a song and _actually perform it fuck_. With a heavy groan, Hongjoong sighed and rubbed his forehead. “Think, dumbass! You have so many songs! Which one of them would work?”

_Goodnight, Seonghwa. I love you._

“That’s it!”

With a grunt, he launched himself off the couch and grabbed his coat and bag, hurrying out of the apartment (belatedly remembering to lock it). He yanked his toque onto his head as he made his way to the studio owned by Yoongi and Namjoon.

 **Hongjoong [7:15 p.m.]  
** Are you two in the studio right now?

 **Namjoon-hyung [7:17 p.m.]  
** Yes, but you’re welcome to come  
Yoongi-hyung had a third station set up for you

 **Hongjoong [7:18 p.m.]  
** Really??  
That’s so sweet of you, Yoongi-hyung!

 **Yoongi-hyung [7:20 p.m.]  
** I did no such thing   
I just put a pet bed there  
and some water  
for you

 **Hongjoong [7:21 p.m.]  
** I’ll take it at this point  
I’m finally done with finals  
but I need to work on that song for the 24th

 **Namjoon-hyung [7:23 p.m.]  
** How did your exams go?

 **Hongjoong [7:24 p.m.]  
** I wish I could remember enough to tell you

 **Namjoon-hyung [7:25 p.m.]  
** How do you forget how you did on your exams?

 **Yoongi-hyung [7:27 p.m.]  
** Not everyone’s a giant nerd like you, Joon  
right, Hongjoong-ah? 

**Hongjoong [7:30 p.m.]  
** I’m not dumb enough to answer that

The conversation naturally died off after Namjoon sent a ‘haha :P’ response, and Hongjoong stepped off the subway and into the station. There were still quite a few people out and about, but thankfully he’d missed rush hour. With how often he’d been going to Namjoon and Yoongi’s studio, Hongjoong wondered if he should offer to pay rent of some kind. They’d decline, of course, Hongjoong knew his hyungs well and they were not going to accept monetary payment from a dongsaeng for helping them out.

What Hongjoong did do, however, was go to Yoongi and Namjoon’s favourite coffee shop and ask them for a to-go container of their best blend - best for a party of 10+ people. When the cashier asked what party he was going to, Hongjoong sheepishly smiled and had to lie instead of saying this was primarily for one person. He got some pastries and hurried the rest of the way to the studio, jostling what he was carrying so he could enter the studio code.

“Hi hyungs!” Hongjoong greeted, gently kicking the door shut with his foot as he entered. He held up the pastries and the cardboard box filled with a coffee and outfitted with a spigot. “I brought refreshments.”

Yoongi groaned as he pushed himself out of his seat, as if drawn by a magnet to the coffee. “You’re a saint, Joong-ah.”

“Patron saint of coffee, that’s me,” Hongjoong laughed as he set the coffee and pastries down on the nearby table. “The least I can do since you two are practically saintly yourselves for letting me use this for the last couple of weeks.”

Namjoon waved a hand. “It’s good that it’s finally getting some use. We’re barely here since the photography business took off.” He smiled at Hongjoong as the younger man brought over a cup of coffee and a pastry. “Thank you. — what are you going to be working on?”

Hongjoong smiled as he held up a USB stick, inserting it into his little station Yoongi fashioned for him, setting up the track and all its parts. Yoongi raised an eyebrow, his expression shifting as Hongjoong began the rough playback. “I remember this song… so you finally got the guts to say this to him?”

“Yeah.”

~ * ~

If Seonghwa wasn’t suspicious of something being up when Chan gave him the night off on the 24th without him asking for it, he was definitely suspicious when he couldn’t find Hongjoong and instead was carted off for a night on the town by his six other friends. “Don’t you all have Christmas plans with your _families?_ ” he asked incredulously, raising a fine eyebrow.

Wooyoung, plastered to his side with San on the Snow Leopard’s other side, shook his head. “Not until tomorrow, and besides, don’t you want to spend some of the holiday with us, Seonghwa-hyungie?” he pouted, intentionally using overly cute language.

Seonghwa’s icy blue eyes narrowed and he flicked Wooyoung in the forehead, causing the Bengal were-cat to yowl and deepen his pout further. “I know you’re all up to something. Where are you taking me?” He had been irritated that Hongjoong didn’t tell him where the performance he had to give in exchange for use of his hyung’s studio was - in fact, Seonghwa would have a hell of a better time proving ghosts existed than finding Kim Hongjoong in the days leading up to Christmas Eve.

“Out on the town,” Yunho replied, smirking. “Didn’t you hear us the first time?”

“I heard you, but it still doesn’t answer the question!” Seonghwa hissed. He was irritable, having been looking forward to Hongjoong finally perform, and while he loved his friends, this isn’t what he wanted to be doing on his day off.

Yeosang broke the silence by pointing upwards. “There it is, _PERSONA!_ ”

With twin devilish grins, San and Wooyoung nodded to each other and pulled Seonghwa off ahead, dragging the eldest of their group into the club. A stage was set up at the furthest northern part of the club, and several feet was cordoned off for club-goers, then there was the bar and the stools over any patrons who didn’t want to partake in the show. All in all, a pretty standard music venue/club.

“Oh! San, you’re here too?”

San’s grip on Seonghwa broke when he heard the voice and he quickly bowed. A young man dressed in black about Chan’s age came over, followed closely another man dressed in black and flashes of vibrant colour with a lip ring and a third man with sandy blond hair and hazel eyes, dripping in Gucci. “Jungkook-hyung!” San exclaimed, bowing deeply. “Hoseok-hyung, Kim-ssi, it’s good to see you again. — Happy Holidays.”

Seonghwa looked over curiously; he’d heard Chan mention that he and Hoseok went way back. Hoseok had heart-shaped lips and seemed more into wearing bright colours alongside his all-black wardrobe than Jungkook, San and Chan. He recognized the man beside Hoseok as Kim Taehyung, a world famous model.

San really did know everyone.

Jungkook smiled, his nose crinkling as he giggled. As Seonghwa looked between Jungkook and San, he could see how Wooyoung could mistake the two of them at a glance. “Happy Holidays!” he returned in kind, bowing slightly. “Are you here to watch Namjoon-hyung and Yoongi-hyung perform?”

“That’s the plan,” San confirmed, smiling; Jungkook’s energy was infectious. “Let’s sit together.”

“Wait - Namjoon-hyung? Yoongi-hyung?” Seonghwa said, stopping everything as he raised his hands. “Hongjoong knows a Namjoon and a Yoongi; they let us use his studio for Hongjoong’s final project.” Suddenly, everything snapped into place. “You all —”

Yeosang’s hands suddenly came from behind and he shoved Seonghwa forward. “Congrats! You connected the two dots! Now hurry up so we don’t lose the good spots!”

Seonghwa felt like he was in the middle of a circus, and no one else in the club seemed to care as he was practically manhandled into prime position in front of the stage but behind the cordoned off section that separated the main floor from the performers. He tried not to appear too eager now that he realized that everyone had conspired to bring him to _Persona_ so he could see Hongjoong perform. But he wondered how long it would be until he saw the blue-haired man on stage.

The answer was exactly halfway through the show, right before the intermission. Seonghwa watched as two men he presumed were Namjoon and Yoongi got on stage, introduced as RM and AGUST D. His mouth hung open as the two men performed, Namjoon’s deep voice and careful word choices contrasting sharply yet working so well with Yoongi’s sharp words and even sharper barbs. Three songs seemed to go in a flash, and soon the MC was back on the stage.

“We have a first-timer on stage with us tonight!” he said to the cheers of the crowd, “keep your eyes on this one - he’s going to go far! Please welcome Kim Hongjoong to the stage!”

The MC quickly left after that, replaced smoothly by Hongjoong who was wearing black ripped jeans, and half a pleated skirt that cinched tightly with twin buckles at his narrow waist. A black button-down short-sleeved shirt hugged his lithe frame, and his fingers and wrists were adorned with stylish silver and black jewellery. His sapphire blue hair glinted in the harsh light of the spotlight, eyes defined by a messy smoky eye. Sleek black converses moved across the worn wooden floor, scraping as he dragged his feet.

Quietly, Hongjoong brought the microphone to his lips. “ _I’m in love_ …” he started, his voice soulful and clear, dark brown eyes bright and sharp, staring directly at one Park Seonghwa. A swell of airy, almost sensual and sweeping hip-hop music started behind him, lifted up by sharp snares. The crowd fell silent, surprised by the choice of music and completely enthralled by it right from the jump.

Seonghwa felt like he was breathing underwater. He’d known that Hongjoong was a talented rapper - Mingi had said as much repeatedly and supportively - but he hadn’t known just how beautiful Hongjoong’s vocals could be. The half-whispered outline vocals on his final project track didn’t do him justice one bit. Not once during the song did Hongjoong’s eyes leave his, and Seonghwa couldn’t break his away away for anything. Everything else seemed to fade away and fall to the background until it was just the two of them - intimacy in a crowded club.

The song was beautiful, Seonghwa feeling like he’d been swept away to sea by a man that promised him the world with a roguish grin and his heart. In truth, Hongjoong had been Seonghwa’s anchor for far longer than just the past two months, and the feelings were clear as day now. Effortlessly, Hongjoong switched between effervescent vocals and quick-fire flow, the standard black microphone feeling like a magic wand in his hand for the magic that permeated the club’s main area. Faintly, in the background, Seonghwa could hear the impressed comments of their friends, particularly San and Mingi hyping up Hongjoong - who grinned back in response but barely kept his attention away from Seonghwa.

Suddenly, Hongjoong’s sweet and airy voice broke through his thoughts, a smile on his lips. “ _I draw and draw… it’s clear to the ends of the shadow line that I only long for the day I see you again_ … _I’m in love - I’m dreaming a dream every night_.” He lowered the microphone as the song eventually faded out, and Seonghwa’s heart raced when he saw Hongjoong mouth the same five words he had that night at the apartment.

_Goodnight, Seonghwa. I love you._

The second that Hongjoong left the stage, Seonghwa broke away from the group to follow, only throwing a ‘Sorry! I have to find him! — thank you!’ in a harried tone over his shoulder before he disappeared into the backstage area. He could hear the laughter and well-wishes behind him and he felt emboldened by their support as he made his way through the narrow hallways of the club’s performers area.

For once, Seonghwa was thankful for his sensitive hearing as he picked up on Hongjoong’s voice talking with two other people - likely Namjoon and Yoongi. He sharply turned the corner and his arm shot out to steady his balance from coming around the tight turn too fast. He tried to compose himself as three sets of eyes were on him - all of them startled.

“My apologies,” Seonghwa started breathlessly, straightening himself up to his full height. “I’d like to speak to Hongjoong alone, if I could.”

Yoongi blinked and shared a long look with Namjoon, before realization dawned on his features. “So it’s _you_ ,” he said, a smirk curling his lips. “Yeah, he’s all yours. Joon and I were just about too head off with our friends. — I’ll let your friends know that you’re going to be occupied, Joong-ah.”

Hongjoong smiled and bowed deeply. “Thank you, Hyungs. Happy Holidays!” He turned to Seonghwa as his two seniors left, a blush colouring his cheeks. “Hwa, I hope that the song was—” He didn’t get a chance to finish his sentence as Seonghwa pressed him up against the nearest wall, capturing his lips into a deeply passionate kiss, hoping the kiss could say what was lodged in his throat. “N-Not here,” Hongjoong croaked, fingers resting shakily on Seonghwa’s forearms.

“I know,” Seonghwa replied, his voice just as shaky. “But I need to say this, I’ve been… I’ve been … I’ve waited too long,” He growled, annoyed with himself and buried his face in Hongjoong’s sweaty neck, entranced by the musky scent and the faint sting of cologne. Slowly, Seonghwa pulled back, his heart rate picking up once he’d made eye contact with Hongjoong. “I need to say I love you, or I’m going to kick myself into the new year.”

Hongjoong’s eyes widened and he pressed his hands on either side of Seonghwa’s face. “Say it again,” he pleaded.

“I love you,” Seonghwa repeated, more emphatically this time before capturing Hongjoong’s lips into a deep kiss.

He could feel Hongjoong’s smile widen against his lips. “I love you too,” Hongjoong added, unable to help himself from another kiss. “Let’s get out of here; I wanna show you just how much, Hwa… if you’ll let me.”

Seonghwa’s eyes widened; he hadn’t expected Hongjoong to be so bold, or to voice one of the hotter fantasies that he’d had. “You… you want to top?” he asked softly.

“If you’re okay with it,” Hongjoong confirmed, his voice just as light. “If you’re not comfortable with it, I’m more than okay with bottoming again, it’s not —” Once more, Hongjoong was cut off as Seonghwa captured his mouth in an all-consuming kiss. “H-Hwa?”

“I’ve wanted you to fuck me since the first day we met,” Seonghwa confessed against Hongjoong’s kiss-bitten lips, tasting the faint flavour of the human’s melon-flavoured chapstick. Seonghwa’s lips ghosted down from the other man’s lips to his neck, flushing red with want. He tattooed his desire for Hongjoong with a sharp bite, just below where it’d mate them, his instincts going wild at the prospect. “Let’s go.”

Hongjoong nodded, a bit dazed. “We’re gone.” He took the Snow Leopard’s hand in his and led him through the backdoor of the club and out into the backstreets.

The way to their apartment was filled with stolen glances and hand squeezes, whispered promises and excited, hushed bouts of laughter. They were giddy, high off the adrenaline of everything being out in the open, like the door had been opened and what awaited them was a vast sea of possibilities. Hongjoong could barely pull himself away from Seonghwa’s lips as he moved to fumble with his keys, thankful that today of all days that it worked with him.

They’d barely gotten the door locked before they were all over each other. Kisses that were at one point brief and shy were now hungry and biting, clothing practically ripped and thrown carelessly aside, to be found hours later in unexpected places. Hongjoong revelled in the gasps and pants from the Snow Leopard were-cat as he fastened his lips to Seonghwa’s neck, hands greedy as they seemed intent on mapping every inch of the taller man’s body. “On the bed,” Hongjoong murmured, tattooing the words to Seonghwa’s collarbone.

Seonghwa shifted against him, biting and licking at Hongjoong’s pierced ear and the human felt his knees buckle. “How do you want me?” he asked, voice sinful.

Name: Kim Hongjoong  
Age: 22   
Cause of Death: Park Seonghwa

Hongjoong swallowed thickly, eyes fluttering shut as Seonghwa took his sweet time making sure that he licked and suckled at each and every piercing that lined the human’s ear. “On your back,” Hongjoong stuttered, swallowing again in a vain attempt to moisten his throat. “I want to watch you fall apart like you got to with me. That okay?”

A low, guttural growl left Seonghwa’s throat, imprinting itself in Hongjoong’s ear canal. There were definite pluses to being with a were-cat, aside from the giant one that he loved Seonghwa - _all_ of him. “ _Yes_ ,” the were-cat growled, tightening his hands on Hongjoong’s bare waist. Hongjoong groaned; there were definitely going to be bruises there tomorrow. Suddenly, Seonghwa released him and moved back, getting on Hongjoong’s shitty mattress with more elegance and grace than he had any right to have.

The blue haired man’s throat went dry; Seonghwa was _gorgeous_ , tanned skin flushed with arousal, pale blond hair thoroughly mussed up and they hadn’t even _done_ much yet. He stared for a long moment at the sight before him on his bed - their bed - and he steeled himself; now wasn’t the time to lose his nerve. Hongjoong licked his lips absently and grabbed what he needed out of his bedside table, tossing it onto the bed beside Seonghwa. With decidedly less grace than Seonghwa had displayed, Hongjoong got onto the bed and covered the Snow Leopard were-cat with his body.

“Look at you,” Hongjoong breathed, letting his hands freely roam along Seonghwa’s sinewy, strong body. He watched with admiration as the were-cat’s abdomen flexed at his touch, how his breath hitched when his fingers grazed over a sensitive spot. “Seonghwa… you’re amazing.” Deciding to put his mouth to good use, Hongjoong explored every exposed bit of flesh in front of him, creating a trail of rapidly purpling love bites.

Seonghwa was far more sensitive than he realized, each bite rewarding Hongjoong with high, breathy moans and sharp curses. It was addictive, Hongjoong found, to see and hear Seonghwa be like this, his usual composed and elegant demeanour crumbling in Hongjoong’s hands. He took his time, savouring each moan, each whispered curse, each jerk and each writhe against his scratchy cotton sheets. Seonghwa took a little while to become fully pliant, his impatience proving to be difficult to ease away, but Hongjoong wasn’t about to rush; Seonghwa deserved all the care in the world.

He wanted to tell the other man how much he loved him, how much he was sorry that it took him this long to get his shit together, that he wanted Seonghwa to stay with him in his shitty apartment in Itaewon forever. Instead of forcing his uncooperative mouth to work, Hongjoong decided that he would show all of that through each touch, each kiss, each graze of his fingers along Seonghwa’s beautiful skin. Being this close, Hongjoong could see the little imperfections on Seonghwa’s tanned skin, endearment blossoming in his chest.

“I’m going to take care of you,” Hongjoong said finally, once he’d gotten his voice to cooperate.

Seonghwa arched his back, eyes fluttering shut and kiss-bitten lips parted in pleasure as Hongjoong sucked a particularly dark hickey to Seonghwa’s thigh. “Please…” he whispered, voice raw with desire. “Hongjoong, _please_ … I want you, so badly, _please_.”

The snap of the bottle of lube’s cap cracked through the thick air, and Hongjoong grinned devilishly as Seonghwa seemed to react just as strongly as he had their first time together. “Patience is a virtue you know…”

“It isn’t one of mine!” Seonghwa shot back, long legs quivering as he heard the squelch of lube being squirted onto Hongjoong’s fingers. He watched with half-lidded eyes as the younger man warmed up the clear liquid between his fingers before finally, _finally_ , beginning to give Seonghwa what he wanted.

God, if he could somehow bottle the sound and sight of Seonghwa falling apart on his fingers, Hongjoong could live in paradise forever. “Don’t worry,” Hongjoong promised, carefully crooking his fingers, looking for that one spot inside Seonghwa that would make him unravel… there! He licked his lips as Seonghwa arched his back, sweat beading at this temples as Hongjoong’s skilled fingers massaged the were-cat’s prostate. “I’m going to make sure you feel incredible, Hwa…”

Seonghwa keened, arching his back hard off the bed. “Joong!” he cried, biting his lip hard enough to break the skin. “Please!”

“Okay, okay,” Hongjoong soothed, kissing the quivering muscle of Seonghwa’s inner right thigh with a soft press of his lips. He pulled his fingers out, savouring the sound of the other man’s breathy moans. Carelessly, Hongjoong wiped his hands on the sheets, and got himself ready by rolling on a condom and slicking up his length. He let out a hiss of pleasure as he finally grasped himself, the pressure delicious and not enough. “I’m going to go slow…”

Whatever insistence Seonghwa was about to press with died in his throat as Hongjoong pushed in aggravatingly slowly, a strangled moan punched out of him. Seonghwa was tight, really, really fucking tight, and it took everything in Hongjoong’s power not to come right then and there. “M-More,” Seonghwa breathed, reaching up and pulling Hongjoong down for a messy kiss. “Hongjoong, I want to feel more of you…”

“Fuck… you can’t just _say_ shit like that,” Hongjoong cursed under his breath, stealing another kiss as he continued to slowly push in, inch by inch. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“I can _take_ it,” Seonghwa protested, digging his blunt nails into Hongjoong’s shoulders. Much like Hongjoong had done to him their first time, Seonghwa wrapped his long legs around Hongjoong’s waist and pulled him in in one fell swoop. With a choked moan, the blue-haired man buried his face in Seonghwa’s neck. “There, bite there, _please, Hongjoong_ …!”

Hongjoong felt his throat dry for the umpteenth time that night; he knew what Seonghwa was getting at, and the temptation was so, so strong. “I’m going to start moving now,” he said instead, kissing underneath his jaw. “Hang on tight, Hwa.”

The disappointed whine that fell from the Snow Leopard’s lips was absolute torture for Hongjoong, but he knew that he couldn’t mate Seonghwa, not at that moment. A decision that big couldn’t be made in the heat of the moment, no matter how badly both Seonghwa _and_ Hongjoong wanted it. He didn’t let the mood dampen after that, however, beginning a deep and slow pace that had Seonghwa completely and utterly distracted.

“That’s it, baby,” Hongjoong whispered against Seonghwa’s neck, biting and sucking right below where Seonghwa wanted him to. “God, I love you… listen to you, Seonghwa… you sound incredible. You _feel_ incredible. — talk to me. Are you … are you okay?”

Seonghwa groaned, tightening his legs around Hongjoong’s waist as he began to roll his hips in a desperate attempt to match the human’s pace. “So… so good,” he dazedly replied, skin flushed and lips swollen from their kisses, “mark me up, make me yours, I want it … I want it so badly…”

Another groan escaped Hongjoong and pressed itself to Seonghwa’s neck, but this one was laced with a hard growl. He couldn’t hold back any longer; they’d both waited so long, they’d both spent so long dancing around what they wanted and being kept apart by their day-to-day life. (Not anymore,) Hongjoong thought possessively, biting and sucking at a choice spot on the other side of Seonghwa’s neck, shifting his pace and ratcheting it up until his bed slammed against the wall.

He’d apologize to his neighbours later.

There was no way he was going to last long once he’d heard Seonghwa’s high-pitched, keening moans, the were-cat’s fingernails dragging down his back and leaving bright red lines down the sinewy muscle. The pain was fresh and adrenaline shot through Hongjoong’s veins, being all that was needed to push him over the edge. Seonghwa’s name fell from his lips like a prayer, and Seonghwa’s body was the temple he prayed at as his climax overtook him. He could feel Seonghwa tense and arch his back taut like a bowstring, spilling all over himself in a filthy but delectable sight.

He’d hear the sound of Seonghwa chanting his name over and over forever and there was no better sound in the world in that moment - or ever.

“Hwa… are you … are you okay?” Hongjoong asked, his voice raw.

“Never better,” Seonghwa breathed, eyes fluttering open. “When did you become such a good fuck, Kim Hongjoong?”

Hongjoong grinned. “When it concerned _you_ , Park Seonghwa.” He stole another kiss, carefully pulling out and hissing at the loss of sweet, addictive warmth.

As much as he was loathe to move, he knew that Seonghwa would have his head if he didn’t clean them up promptly. Plus, there was one more benefit to cleaning up - he’d get to cuddle with the Snow Leopard that much quicker. Once they were comfortably back in bed with clean sheets and clean sleepwear, Hongjoong let out a sigh of relief but it died just as quickly as it left him - Seonghwa was tense in his arms.

“Hwa? What’s the matter?”

Seonghwa tensed further, pointedly not looking at him until Hongjoong gently tugged his chin up and made him. “You said you wouldn’t mate me,” he whispered, his lips curling into a hurt frown.

Hongjoong blinked before realization crossed his features. “Hwa… that’s not what I said,” he defended himself, pressing a kiss to the were-cat’s forehead. “I didn’t want to do it _in the moment_. I wanted to talk to you first.”

The Snow Leopard’s pale eyebrows furrowed. “What?”

“I want that with you, I really do,” Hongjoong started, brushing Seonghwa’s blond hair out of his eyes with a gentle brush of his fingers. “But… can we revisit it in a year? I want to do this right and I want… to take our time. — I know, we spent way too long getting in our own way, but…”

“No, I get it,” Seonghwa interrupted, a fond smile coming to his tinted lips. “And you’re right. That’s … not a decision to make lightly. If we… if we make it a year, then we’ll revisit this.” His smile widened. “When did you become so wise beyond your hears, Kim Hongjoong?”

“You’re a good influence on me, Park Seonghwa,” Hongjoong replied, stealing a soft, loving kiss. “Love you,” he whispered, drunk on the feeling of saying it now that he could. Seonghwa’s face turned bright red and he made a thoroughly adorable embarrassed sound against Hongjoong’s neck. “What was that? I couldn’t hear you.”

Seonghwa hit him square in the chest with a closed fist, causing Hongjoong to pretend to choke out a strangled whine. “I love you too,” Seonghwa said clearly, placing a loving kiss to the spot where in a year’s time, he’d make Hongjoong his mate.

“Mind if I text Yeosang to finally shut him up?”

“I’m not responding to that.”

Hongjoong grinned and nuzzled Seonghwa, pleased by the way the prickly Snow Leopard fell apart at the gesture. He may not be an expert on were-cats, but he was an expert on Park Seonghwa. “Merry Christmas, Seonghwa.”

A blush coloured Seonghwa’s cheeks. “Merry Christmas, Hongjoong.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> JK's Microwave, you ask, did you need to make the final chapter the length of a one-shot with two spicy scenes? Yes. Yes I did.


End file.
